Shanghai tightens park safety as plum trees set to bloom

Plum tree. [Photo/chinanews.com]

Parks across Shanghai are beefing up security ahead of the upcoming plum blossom season in a bid to keep visitors safe.

Officials at Haiwan National Forest Park in Fengxian District said they are preparing for a huge increase in visitor numbers, as last year was their first plum blossom festival.

The park attracted 402,000 people over the course of the event, and 79,000 on a single day. This year's event will run from February 16 to March 22, and the busiest days could attract as many as 200,000 people, its operator said.

As a result, there will be a much heavier police presence, and multiple exits will be created across the park. The number of parking spaces will also be increased to 8,800 from 5,500 last year, it said.

At Xinzhuang Park in Minhang District, officials said they are in the process of drawing up safety plans for their annual event. On the busiest day last year, 70,000 people converged on the green space, despite its "recommended" capacity being just 15,000.

"It was very crowded," an official said.

As a result, there will be increased security and better parking facilities than in previous years, the person said.

The park has almost 1,000 plum trees in 40 varieties, several of which are very rare in Shanghai. This year's blossom festival will run from February 20 to March 18.

In the Pudong New Area of the city, the operators of Century Park said they too are planning enhanced security measures for the upcoming plum blossom event, which will run from February 10 to March 31.

Finally, security at the 2015 China Agricultural and Sideline Products Sales Exhibition, which is under way at the Shanghai Everbright Convention and Exhibition Center in Xuhui District, has been increased tenfold from last year.

About 100 policemen and security guards are currently on duty at the event, which runs through Sunday, and that number will rise to 150 over the weekend, its organizers said.

As an additional measure, queue-control barriers will be erected to ensure there are no bottlenecks as people try to get inside the venue, they said, adding that visitor numbers are set to double to 40,000 per day over the weekend.