In the past month, two new private museums - the Imperial Granary Museum and one run by CCTV host Cui Yongyuan that displays movie props - have opened.

"There are a number of private museums that are not registered with our administration, so the accurate number could be more than the released one," Liu said.

By the end of 2009, the total number of museums in Beijing registered with BACH reached 151. Among them, 36 were free to visit and, last year, attracted 5.6 million visitors.

The city hopes the museum scene can improve still further.

Yang Nan, a Beijing expert who specializes in history and museums, said the growing number of people wanting to visit museums means the city should be doing more.

He told the media earlier that museums do not seem to be prepared to meet demand and he called for more free museums to be opened in areas where they are needed, saying the city "needs to develop a museum culture".

Liu said professional staff and updated facilities were the most pressing challenges.

A research report prepared by Liu’s department suggested visitors could also learn to protect exhibits and behave properly when they visit museums.

Wang Yanfeng, a frequent museum visitor and mother of a three-year-old daughter, said Beijing still lags behind European countries, where visiting museums is a regular part of life.

"At the same time, the museums should offer more interactive alternatives rather than just exhibitions, which will attract more visitors to come into them," she said.