Dagaoxuan Palace to open 60 years after it closed

The photo taken on Aug 13 shows a wooden shrine in Qianyuan Pavilion, where renovation is underway at the Dagaoxuan Palace in the Forbidden City in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]

Dagaoxuan Palace, veiled to the public for 60 years, will be finally open. The building will be open to the public while repair work is done. It is scheduled to be completed in 2016.

After the renovation, the palace will become a cultural center where exhibitions and cultural activities will be held and a digital museum set up.

Dagaoxuan Palace, between Jingshan Mountain and Beihai, was founded in 1542, during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Occupying an area of 13,000-square-meters, it is the only imperial Taoist abbey dating the Ming and Qing dynasties in China, and constitutes an important part of the Forbidden City.

The Jiajing Emperor usually came to the palace to pray for longevity. Emperor Qianlong and Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty also had come here to pray for rain in dry seasons.

It has gone through several renovations and was occupied by a departmental office since 1956. After architectural experts appealed and many departments' efforts, the palace was finally turned over to the Palace Museum in 2013.