Free of Charge??

Xi'an, China

This may seem trivial but I just have to write about it. Today I went to the Shaanxi Provincial Museum and entry was free. Chargeless. Gratuitous. On the house. No money.
To follow my amazement you have to understand that in China you don't even get near a remotely interesting place, palace, temple or museum, mountain or waterfall without paying for it. A (Chinese!) friend of mine once said that his country men and women are so good at doing business. If they have, say, a historic temple in their town the first thing they'd do these days would be to pull up a fence around it and collect money for tickets. So, imagine my surprise when I walked up to the ticket office at the Shaanxi Museum, asked how much a ticket was and got the answer: “不要钱。今天免费。” ("You don't need money. Today is free.")
Obviously, the exhibition halls were bustling with people. But I was happy. I think it's a great idea. The one thing that I've always liked about London was that despite the high cost of everything else the museums, at least, were always free of charge. As a tourist, especially as a foreigner, you seldom get 100% value out of a trip to a local museum. You have little time and just want to get an overview of history or culture. Besides, it's surely good education for those people and families here that normally can't afford a trip to the museum. Go Xi'an!