Botanical garden to limit visitors during holiday

IN a bid to ensure the safety of residents and prevent tragedies, like a stampede, during Spring Festival, Luohu District Government has decided to limit the number of visitors to the Fairy Lake Botanical Garden and Hongfa Temple over the weeklong holiday.

The decision was made because some of the roads in Liantang area, where the park and temple are located, have been affected by the ongoing construction of a Metro line. Therefore the areas are at a higher risk of landslides and heavy traffic congestion.

Also, the second phase of construction of the Hongfa Temple is still under way, which will make it more difficult for crowds to disperse.

The botanical park and temple will be open to a limited number of the public, from 8 p.m. Jan. 27 to 6 p.m. Jan. 28, but no entry will be allowed between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Jan. 27. Only 10,000 visitors will be allowed to enter after 8 p.m. Jan. 27, the Chinese New Year’s Eve.

For those who want to visit the park and worship at the temple between Jan. 29 and Feb. 2 as well as on Feb.11, the Lantern Festival, the open hours will be from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Only 20,000 tickets will be sold on each of these days.

Visitors can only tour the park and temple on foot. It takes at least two and a half hours to visit the whole park on foot, which covers a distance of 7.5 km.

The park will not provide a bus service during the holiday, so those who have difficulties walking for a long time, including the elderly and children, are advised against visiting during the Spring Festival holiday.

The public security department of Luohu District will implement the restrictions of visitors to and traffic around the park.

Tickets for entry are only available via online booking. Visitors will be able to book tickets via the park’s public WeChat account and the Beautiful Shenzhen WeChat public account starting Jan. 22. ?

Editor: Vince Xie