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A spokesman for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) announced today (October 24) that the 600,000 admission tickets for the "Animated Version of the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" had all been sold out.
As at today, over 1,240 applications requesting more than 185,000 free tickets had been received from schools and social welfare organisations since application for the 200,000 free tickets for group visits started on October 12.
Together with the more than 185,000 tickets booked by the schools and social welfare organisations, a total of 785,000 tickets for the three-week exhibition have already been taken up.
The spokesman thanked the public for their enthusiastic support. He said, "We are very pleased with the overwhelming response of the public to the exhibition. It is amazing that such a large number of tickets were taken up by the public in just six days' time." He also thanked members of the public for their patience when queueing up for tickets at the counters or booking tickets through the Internet and telephone.
The spokesman said that LCSD will upload more information about the painting and the exhibition to the website and suggested that the ticket holders to visit the exhibition website at hk.qingmingriverside.hk to familiarise themselves with the content of the exhibition prior to the visit. He also urged them to obtain details of the transportation arrangements from the website and allow ample time for travelling to the exhibition venue at the AsiaWorld-Expo.
In response to press enquiries on whether the exhibition period or its opening hours will be extended, the spokesman said that the China Pavilion will be re-opened on December 1 and the exhibition cannot be held in two different places at the same time. In addition, the exhibition venue, beyond November 29, the last day of the exhibition, has been reserved by other organisations and will not be available. Therefore, extension of the exhibition period is not feasible.
"As for the extension of opening hours, it involves a number of complex operational and logistical arrangements factors including transport, ticketing, venue management, etc. In the light of the strong public demand, we will look at the feasibility and possible options in this regard and announcement will be made as soon as possible."
The "River of Wisdom - Animated Version of the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" will bring to Hong Kong the spectacular exhibition shown at the China Pavilion of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China. Co-organised by the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination and the LCSD, the exhibition will be held at the AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong International Airport from November 9 to 29. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust will be the exhibition's exclusive sponsor.
Ends/Sunday, October 24, 2010
Issued at HKT 18:56
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