Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    WITH the May Day holiday approaching, the management of Dameisha Beach Park, a popular holiday spot in eastern Shenzhen, will control crowds by capping the number of visitors allowed to enter the resort at 80,000 a day through online reservations between May 1 and Oct. 10.

    Holidaymakers can make reservations online seven days in advance for free admission on the park’s WeChat public account 畅游盐田, according to the management, which implemented the measure as required by the Yantian District Government where the park is located.

    The online booking system will advise tourists to choose another day to visit if the reservation limit has been reached.

    After booking, visitors can scan their ID card or the QR code at the entrances, or print their admission tickets with their ID or the QR code at the ticket dispensers.

    Those who change their plans after making a reservation need to cancel the reservation two hours in advance.

    The system will ban visitors from entering the park for six months if they fail to honor their reservations on more than three occasions.

    Dameisha Beach Park is one of the calling cards of Shenzhen’s tourism. It has received a total of 125 million visitors since opening in May 1999. In recent years, the park has received more than 10 million visitors a year, which is far beyond its capacity.

    For years, the huge number of visitors during festivals brought with it a number of issues for the 160,000-square-meter beach to deal with, including the problem of waste.

    Meanwhile, the city’s traffic police said that they would tighten checks on vehicles that illegally use bus lanes to get to the park and Dapeng.

    Vehicles that illegally park on roads near the tourist attractions in Meisha and Dapeng will be fined 500 yuan (US$74). The fine will be increased to 2,000 if the vehicles cause congestion, according to a release by Shenzhen police Thursday.

    The statement said that Guangzhou-Shenzhen Riverside Expressway, Meiguan Expressway, Longda Expressway and Nanguang Expressway will see an increasing number of vehicles as more Shenzhen tourists are expected to choose Dapeng, Xunliaowan in Huizhou and Songshan Lake in Dongguan for respite due to the visitor limit at the beach park.

    Dapeng New Area will open 10 sightseeing bus routes starting Saturday. The local government estimates that the number of holidaymakers will increase by 20 percent, as many tourists will be diverted from Dameisha.

    The expressways in the city will be toll-free between April 29 and May 1.

    The weather in Shenzhen will be cloudy with occasional showers. The average temperature will be 28 degrees Celsius in the daytime and the weather will be good for traveling.