Night at Hong Kong museum? Evening hours considered amid Egyptian mummy mania

An evening experience with Egyptian mummies may soon become a reality as the Hong Kong Palace Museum is considering extending its opening hours after its special exhibition attracted more than 16,000 visitors in the first four days, which at some point descended into chaos.

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

Ng said visitors had to wait up to 90 minutes to enter the gallery on Saturday, 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.