Strict crowd management measures are in place for the public opening of a refurbished Buddhist nunnery today. Visitors to the wooden Tang dynasty-style Chi Lin Nunnery in Diamond Hill have been urged to travel by public transport, and visiting time will be limited if there are crowds.
Nunnery spokeswoman Elaine Wan Yee-ling said visitors would have to queue to enter the temple section as it could only hold 250 people at a time. 'We want worshippers and others to be able to take their time to enjoy the peace and quiet of the complex,' Ms Wan said. 'That won't be possible if there are too many people inside.' Kowloon Motor Bus, which has 20 routes stopping near the nunnery, said extra staff would monitor the situation in the first few days. The MTR said special passenger-control measures would be taken at Diamond Hill station, which is 500 metres from the nunnery, during weekends and public holidays if the station became too crowded.
Ms Wan said when redevelopment began more than a decade ago it was not the nunnery's intention to attract tourists; it lacked the facilities to handle a large influx of people, she said.
Concern arose after Chief Secretary for Administration, Anson Chan Fang On-sang, said on Thursday that she hoped the nunnery would become a tourist attraction to 'showcase Hong Kong's attractiveness and cultural diversity'.
The nunnery, refurbished at a cost of $700 million, occupies a site of more than 33,000 square metres and has 16 halls for religious functions, with a lotus pond garden at its main entrance.
It runs a home for the elderly, a care and attention home, and schools as well as housing more than 400 Buddhist priests, nuns and elderly people.