Night at Hong Kong museum? Evening hours eyed as Egyptian mummies draw 16,000

An evening encounter with Egyptian mummies is in sight as the Hong Kong Palace Museum weighs extending its opening hours after its special exhibition attracted more than 16,000 visitors in the first four days but also complaints of poor crowd control.

Museum director Louis Ng Chi-wa apologised on Monday for the inconvenience caused to patrons after large crowds queued for hours on Saturday for the “Ancient Egypt Unveiled: Treasures from Egyptian Museums” exhibition.

Ng said visitors had to wait up to 90 minutes to enter the gallery, which was “not ideal”.

“Some of the staff might be inexperienced with handling such crowds, resulting in a poor experience for some visitors,” he told a radio show.

The visitor flow to the gallery on Saturday morning was smooth, with excess capacity, Ng said. As a result, the museum continued to offer on-site tickets, which were sold mainly to tourists.

But crowds, including those who bought tickets beforehand, began arriving at around 3pm.