On February 1, Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum announced that the Three Gorges Cultural Relics Science and Technology Preservation Base under the museum had been completed. It has recently passed the acceptance of the building energy conservation project and the pre-acceptance of completion and will be open to the public within this year. After opening the base, the first "cultural relics hospital" in Chongqing, visitors can watch the restoration of cultural relics up close and appreciate the cultural relics unearthed in the Three Gorges Region. Through interactive projects, visitors can learn about cultural relic preservation.
The base is located in Nanping Sub-district, Nan'an District, with a total investment of about 161 million yuan and a building area of about 18,000 square meters, including an underground floor and four floors above ground. It constitutes an important part of the first National Cultural Relics Equipment Industrial Base jointly awarded by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Cultural Heritage Administration.
The base is shaped like a canyon, coated with silver aluminum plates with a rock-like texture. Standing in front of the audience entrance, the building's exterior walls look like two open arms, inviting people to learn about the story of cultural relics. "This building embraces multiple open spaces, permitting an enjoyable visit experience while walking through the 'canyon,'" said Luo Bin, chief designer of the base.
Two basic exhibition halls and an open exhibition hall are set up on the base's first floor, where visitors can admire the precious cultural relics unearthed in the Three Gorges Region in the past 20 years and partake in interactive projects and learn about cultural relic preservation. A nearly 20-meter-long curved escalator connects the first and second floors. "Walking up to the second floor, several 'operating rooms' will come into sight, each of which is walled with transparent glass, just like a showcase." Yuan Quan, Director of the Cultural Relics Conservation and Archaeology Department of the museum, said that most of the museum's cultural relic repair technicians and equipment would be moved here. Visitors can then watch the "cultural relics doctor" repairing cultural relics like paintings and calligraphy works, bronzes, and ceramics through the glass. "In this way, the restoration of cultural relics will gain the public attention. If conditions permit, cultural relics preservation and traditional culture research activities will be carried out for teens."
"The base will meet the crying needs of the subsequent conservation and restoration of cultural relics unearthed in the Three Gorges Region and improve the infrastructure conditions for the restoration of cultural relics in Chongqing. After the opening, the base is expected to attract citizens to learn about cultural relics restoration to enhance their passion for traditional culture, and boost the revival of cultural relics in the modern times," said Yuan Quan.