(ECNS) -- Beijing's Palace Museum signed a cooperation agreement with Alibaba Group on Wednesday.
Also known as the Forbidden City, the museum launched its official online flagship store on Alibaba's Tmall platform.
The store will offer an e-ticketing service, cultural and creative products, and publishing services.
The move is aimed at making the museum more accessible and attractive to the general public, said Shan Jixiang, curator of the Palace Museum.
The store uses an e-ticket booking system that allows visitors to check into the museum via QR codes or with an ID, without the need for a printed ticket.
It is a major part of the cooperation with Alitrip, the travel site owned by Alibaba, powered by Internet plus technology, which the Palace Museum hopes will provide convenience to visitors and help improve visitor management, as well as ensure better protection of cultural relics at the museum.
The store's cultural and creative section will serve as a display platform for products including gifts, articles for daily use, and specially design items that embody the "everyday aesthetics of the Forbidden City".
In addition, the publishing section plans to roll out more than 300 hand-picked books with a theme related to collections at the museum.
