The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, opened more areas to the public on Thursday.
The Broken Rainbow Bridge and the Eighteen Ancient Pagoda Trees in the west of the palace compound opened to the public for the first time.
According to curator Shan Jixiang, 76 percent of the Forbidden City will be open by the end of this year, and more areas are waiting to receive visitors.
By 2020, all administrative facilities will be removed from the site and 80 percent of the imperial palace grounds will be open to the public, Shan added.
A virtual reality studio in the museum has opened and the palace's Ice House will become a service center for visitors in the near future.
