Authorities set service standard for 158 capital cultural centers

The capital's wealth of weird and wonderful museums are to become more fun and convenient for visitors from home and abroad, culture chiefs vowed on Wednesday.

As part of celebrations to mark the 35th International Museum Day, Beijing authorities released China's first citywide service standard to boost the exhibition experience.

The new rules announced by the cultural heritage administration at Capital Museum will result in the first major shakeup of museums since the 2008 Olympic Games.

Zhang Shuwei, curator of Beijing Arts Museum, welcomed the move and told METRO: "People tend to have a stereotypical impression that museums offer boring, scholarly knowledge and display relics from ancient history, far from daily lives. We need to come up with more considerate services to let people feel closer to museums and make them think, 'Oh, it's interesting'."

The standard will be applied to all 158 registered museums and covers 18 aspects, ranging from selling tickets, language services and handling complaints to workers' attitudes and appearances.

Ahead of the Olympics, 12,900 workers received specialized training, with emphasis on reception skills and foreign languages. It was reported that the Capital Museum had employees able to speak 11 dialects, while others taught staff sign language to communicate with deaf patrons.

However, in an earlier interview, Liu Chaoying, deputy director of the administration, complained that not all institutions had developed at the same rate and suggested more should follow the models used by high-end hotels.

Zhang agreed and stressed the importance of having multilingual workers and well-translated signage. "As Beijing aims to become a world city, we should prepare for visitors from all over the globe, no matter when they come. It's a must-do," he added.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/19/2011)