The management of the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, held an emergency meeting on fire prevention on Tuesday.

 

故宫管理处周二举行一场紧急消防演习。
 

 

Most of the structures in the Palace Museum are made of wood. During the 550 years of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the more than 9,000-room complex caught fire 22 times.

 

Three hundred water jars positioned around the palace were its main defence against fire for most of its existence, along with two firewalls build inside the palace grounds. No fires have broken out at the museum since 1970, when a modern fire brigade was established at the complex. The museum now has its own power generators¹, 91 fire hydrants, nearly 5,000 extinguishers, and 308 jars holding 3,000 liters of water. The museum has also prepared 55 plans for responding to fires in the complex.

 

The management of another major historical site in Beijing, the Old Summer Palace, issued a statement on its Weibo account regarding the fire at Notre Dame². "The tragedy raises awareness³ about the protection of relics⁵. We will make all efforts to protect [the Old Palace] and inherit its spirit." The Old Summer Palace was looted and torched by British and French forces during the Second Opium⁶ War. Some people on social media in China saw similarities between the fire at Notre Dame and what happened at the Old Summer Palace 159 years ago.

 

"The fire showed that efforts in this regard must run through the whole process of cultural relic⁴ protection, including our routine work, renovations, and personnel security at the sites under our protection, to ensure nothing goes wrong," said Song Xinchao, the deputy head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration.

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