The National Palace Museum, Peking, 1920s

One of the things I find myself arguing about on the internet quite regularly is the opening of the Forbidden City and the National Palace Museum to tourists. Many mainland Chinese, and a a fair few foreigners in China, often argue that the Forbidden City was opened up for people to see by the Communist Party in 1949.

Of course this isn’t true. Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. And here’s an old ad for any 1920s visitors to Peking who may be interested….