Shanghai parks will gradually reopen from Friday with strict reservation and visitor-limit measures as well as a ban on line dancing, the city’s greenery authorities announced on Thursday.

    The Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai Zoo, Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai Botanical Garden and Guyi Garden will reopen on Friday, their operators announced on Thursday.

    Park operators are required to keep visitor numbers under half of their maximum capacity via reservation measures, or below 50 percent of reception numbers from the same period in previous years, the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau stated in a notice released on Thursday.

    At peak hours, visitor numbers should also be controlled, and parks featuring spring flower displays should enhance management to prevent gathering, said the bureau.

    Strict disinfection measures are ordered and the operation hours of parks should last between 8am and 5pm instead of early morning and late night, according to the notice.

    Strict management should be imposed on tea houses and restaurants inside parks, with diner numbers limited.

    Visitors must have their temperature measured and present their health QR code for entry. Specific areas temporarily accommodating visitors with abnormal temperature should be set up by park operators, the notice says.

    Visitors must wear masks inside parks.

    Training for security guards, ticketing staff and cleaners should be conducted, and patrols should be enhanced, the bureau orders.

    Benches, garbage bins and toilets inside parks should be disinfected regularly, the notice states.

    The Chenshan Botanical Garden in Songjiang District will implement reservation and non-contact ticket sales via online channels and will limit daily visitors to 10,000, or about 20 percent of its maximum daily capacity.

    Indoors exhibition areas and a 4D cinema inside the garden will remain closed to prevent gathering, the garden operator said.

    Sightseeing boats will not be operated before the epidemic ends.

    The Shanghai Botanical Garden in Xuhui District will limit visitors to 5,000 daily by reservation system.

    Morning exercise cardholders can reserve entry between 7am and 9am on the garden’s WeChat account, while others will be allowed entry from 9am to 4pm, the garden operator said.

    Tourists should keep a distance of at least one meter from each other, and line dancing and group singing are banned inside the park amid the epidemic.

    Chess and card playing, wild animal feeding and dining together are also banned inside the park.

    Catering venues, shops, sightseeing transport and amusement facilities inside the garden will not open as well.

    Group tours will not be received.

    The Shanghai Zoo in Changning District will limit the number of visitors to 30,000 daily, and 15,000 instantaneously.

    Its display areas for amphibious animals, birds, bats, badgers and masked civets will remain closed, and the science education hall will not be opened.

    Shopping, catering and amusement facilities inside the zoo will not open either.

    Tourists are encouraged to purchase tickets online.

    Wildlife feeding is banned, and visitors need to present their health QR code for entry.

    Source: SHINE