Temple expects Lunar New Year throngs to hit 1m

Stacy Shi

Wong Tai Sin Temple will open at 9pm on Lunar New Year's Eve for worshippers to burn their first incense sticks in offering to the Great Immortal Wong at 11pm at the temple's first worshipping platform.

It will be open overnight until 9pm on the first day of the new year.

"We expect 30,000 to 40,000 visitors on Lunar New Year's Eve and a total of nearly one million for the whole Lunar New Year period until the Lantern Festival, similar to that of last year," said temple chief executive Doris Sin Pik-shan yesterday.

Worshippers can offer incense at three points of worship: the main altar, the Three Saints Hall and Yue Heung Pavilion.

A one-way route and crowd-control measures will be implemented in the shrine and there will be no area set aside for drawing fortune sticks, prostration and making offerings.

People unable to visit in person can pray to Master Wong Tai Sin through the temple's online blessing system or watch the live broadcast through its official YouTube channel or online platform Tao-Net.

The temple's Facebook and Instagram pages will also livestream the incense burning event at midnight.

As for worshipping arrangements from the first to the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, the temple will continue to implement crowd-control measures and one-way routes.

Worshippers must queue up at Wong Tai Sin Temple Square and Wong Tai Sin Square before entering the temple.

There will be two lines, one each for the main altar and Taisui Yuanchen Hall.