Bronze animal heads attract 50,000 visitors a day

(ECNS) -- The bronze rat and rabbit heads on display at the National Museum of China in Beijing have attracted nearly 50,000 visitors every day since last Thursday, according to the museum.

The relics were among 12 animal head sculptures that formed a zodiac water clock that once stood at Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace, in northwest Beijing. The heads were lost for over a century after being looted by Anglo-French Allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860, but were returned by the wealthy Pinault family of France in April this year.

There has been some public concern about the authenticity of the statues, but workers at the museum denied the possibility of forgery.

The museum has also taken measures to protect the relics from the massive number of visitors, such as forbidding the use of flash photography.

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