University of Hong Kong further tightens booking rules for tourists to cover every

Currently, tourists must book visits between Monday and Saturday. The latest move added Sunday to the requirements.

The initiatives were in response to an increasing number of tourists descending on the university in recent years to take pictures or explore its grounds.

The university’s Pok Fu Lam campus has been especially popular with mainland tourists in recent months after being featured heavily on the mainland Chinese Instagram-like Xiaohongshu platform as a trendy sightseeing spot.

The university said its guided tours, lasting about an hour per session, would cover various declared monuments on the main campus, as well as access to places that are not regularly open to the public, such as Loke Yew Hall.

Student guides will accompany the participants to explain the background of each of the sites and the university’s wider history.

Guests on the guided tours, which cost HK$100 per person, must book on the university’s website. Six tours, two each in Mandarin, English and Cantonese, will run on designated days from July 25 to August 6.

The tightened rules for regular tourist visits, set to be implemented between August and September, followed the initial introduction of a pre-booking requirement in May.

“Special arrangements of tourist flow management will be implemented during August and September to accommodate the increasing number of activities in the campus,” the university said.

Public holidays will be covered in the seven-day reservation requirements, which also include a visitor quota.

“Tourists visiting the campus between 8am and 6.30pm, Monday to Sunday and public holidays, will be required to make reservations through HKU’s online registration platform prior to their visit, subject to availability for each session,” the institution added.

The university also said it would monitor the effectiveness of the measures and make necessary adjustments, taking into account feedback from university members and the public.

A red brick wall emblazoned with the university’s name and crest near an MTR station is one of the most frequented spots on campus, with tourists often seen gathering for pictures and talking loudly among themselves.