Crowds Return To Theme Parks, Places Of Worship

There were expressions of joy from worshippers as well as visitors to amusement parks on Thursday as Ocean Park, Disneyland and temples began welcoming crowds again.

People started streaming into Wong Tai Sin Temple as it reopened its doors at 7:30am, scanning the government's LeaveHomeSafe app as they entered.

"It had been closed for so long, so I'm very happy that it is now open," said a worshipper surnamed Ng.

"I want to pray for health as I suffer from a lot of pains and illnesses and I feel better after coming here."

Another worshipper said she felt "emotional" that she was able to return to the temple, adding that she missed her annual practice of going there in the first month of the Lunar New Year.

Some theme park visitors also started their day early, anticipating crowds on the first day of reopening.

"We specifically came here earlier hoping that we won't have to queue for too long," said a secondary school student who was at Disneyland with two classmates.

She added that she would stay apart from others while queuing and would sanitise her hands after each ride to minimise infection risks.

"I feel excited, magical being here," said a mother who brought her daughter in princess attire to the theme park on Lantau.

"After all, children, and not just children, everyone has been trapped at home for so long," she noted, adding that they would be satisfied even to just take a stroll around the park if it got too crowded later.

Another amusement park, Ocean Park, also received an enthusiastic response from visitors, according to its chairman Lau Ming-wai.

He expressed confidence that visitors will follow the government's Covid rules properly and that things will get better for the park.

"It's our 45th anniversary, the park is older than myself" said Lau.

"I really hope for the park to do well for many, many years to come."

Lau added that he hopes the park's Water World, which is still closed, can also start welcoming customers again when more social distancing curbs are lifted.

In West Kowloon, the M+ Museum also saw the return of visitors after being forced to close less than three months after it launched.

"As our venue is large, I took a stroll earlier and felt that it was very spacious and I'm sure many other places in Hong Kong are more crowded than here," said Bernard Chan, the museum's chairman.

"I feel we can allow more visitors in, but one step at a time."