(TibetanReview.net, Nov02, 2017) – China said Oct 28 that it was spending 660 million yuan (about US$100 million) to more than double the size of Tibet Museum, one of its major propaganda showpieces on Tibet, located in the regional capital Lhasa. The 23,000-square-metre building will be expanded to 58,000 square metres and will be completed by 2020, reported the official Xinhua news agency Oct 28.
After completion, the museum will be able to accommodate 7,000 visitors a day, the report cited the region’s cultural relics bureau as saying.
The report said the museum had been closed since Dec 2016 to prepare for the expansion.
Tibet Museum opened in 1999 and displayed more than 520,000 artefacts, including pottery, jade, and Buddha statues, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, the report added. The museum also displayed photos and other items with highly questionable depictions of the situation in Tibet before its final annexation by China in 1959.
A relic preservation centre will be built for Tibet art treasures protection and study, and there will also be areas for public education and entertainment, reported the official chinadaily.com.cn Oct 30.
While the museum remains under renovation, its collections will be exhibited through tour exhibitions in other museums out of Tibet, the report said.
