故宮博物院北院區正式開建

After years of preparation, construction of a branch of the Palace Museum formally kicked off last Wednesday in Beijing's northwestern outskirts.

經過多年籌備，故宮博物院新院區於上週三在北京市西北郊正式開建。

The branch, covering about 620,000 sq m in the north of Haidian district, will serve as a satellite institution of the complex.

新院區位於海淀區北部，佔地約62萬平方米，將作爲故宮本院的附屬機構。

The branch will include 35,000 sq m of exhibition space, a conservation center of 20,000 sq m for cultural relics, and a warehouse of 23,000 sq m, according to Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum.

據故宮博物院院長單霽翔介紹，新院區將包括3.5萬平方米的展覽空間、2萬平方米的文物修復中心和2.3萬平方米的庫房。

Plans call for it to fully open in June 2022, but the conservation center may be ready for visits by the public in 2020, when the Forbidden City will celebrate its 600th birthday, Shan said.

單霽翔稱，按照計劃新院區將於2022年6月全部開放，但到2020年故宮建成600週年之際，文物修復中心可能率先向公衆開放。

"Having such an institution will improve our service and expand our room to display our collections," he said.

他表示：“新院區將提升故宮博物院服務觀衆的能力、擴大藏品展示空間。”

The lack of sufficient exhibition space has been a lingering problem for the museum, which houses more than 1.86 million cultural relics.

院藏186萬餘件文物的故宮博物院一直深受展覽空間不足問題的困擾。

The need to provide a safe and secure environment for artifacts exhibited in the ancient buildings has meant that only 2 percent of the museum's treasures can be simultaneously displayed to the public.

由於需要爲古建築中展出的文物提供安全可靠的環境，這就意味着只有2%的博物館寶藏可以同時向公衆展示。

"Our collections of large items, like the huge number of tapestries and sedan chairs, particularly need exhibition spaces," Shan said. "It's currently impossible to display them in the Forbidden City, but the new museum will offer good conditions to put them on display."

單霽翔表示：“我們收藏的大件物品，如大量的掛毯和轎子，尤其需要展覽空間。目前我們沒法在故宮展示它們，但新院區將爲展示它們提供良好的條件。”