Palace Museum to open at night for Lantern Festival

File photo of inside of Beijing's Palace Museum at night. [Photo: VCG]

The palace Museum, or the Forbidden City, in Beijing is set to open to the public at night from Tuesday to Wednesday to celebrate the upcoming Chinese traditional Lantern Festival which falls on Feb. 19, the museum announced on its official website on Monday.

For the first time in 94 years, the world largest palace opens to public during the night, with a stunning red lantern show, light projection for renowned ancient painting as well as New Year themed exhibitions to be displayed inside the grand palace cluster.

Visitors can book a ticket for the special event free of charge on its website today and tomorrow and, according to its announcement, some sanitation workers, delivery couriers, soldiers, police officers and other "model workers" in Beijing will be invited to visit the festive event.

File photo of Beijing's Palace Museum at night. [Photo: VCG]

So far, the tickets for Tuesday night have been fully booked and Wednesday’s ticket will be open to book tomorrow.

The Palace Museum has become a sensation in China in recent years with its open area being extended from 30 percent to 80 percent from 2012 to last year. More exquisite exhibitions and festive events have been launched for the public.

During this year's Spring Festival, the museum initiated a set of Spring Festival exhibitions which are dubbed "Celebrating Chinese New Year at the Palace Museum", reliving royal traditions used during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Since the exhibition opened on Jan. 8, the museum has seen a 70 percent increase of visitors year on year.