One month has passed since the implementation of free admission to Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum: 800,000 tourists have felt the glamour of the civilized scenic area
On December 12, 2010, a whole month has passed since the implementation of free admission to Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum. As shown by Real-time monitoring statistics of the scenic area, by 04:00 pm on December 12, the total number of tourists visiting Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum in the past 30 days exceeded 800,000. The tourist flow volume in the fist three days of free admission reached 136,000, setting an all-time high record. In the past month, the tourist flow volume of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum remained at a high level. Especially on weekends and holidays, a large number of citizens, students and tourist groups from other places flocked to the scenic area so that small sightseeing trains running on Lingyuan Road were full from morning till night and tourists came to and fro in an endless stream along both sides of the road. The tourist flow volume of 50,000 people on weekends even surpassed the number of tourists who bought tickets to enter Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum on a single day of the Golden Week. It can be said that now on each weekend we have to withstand a test equivalent to that in the Golden Week.
In the face of the constantly increasing tourist flow, the scenic area has always been adhering to the principle of "free admission but not free from responsibility". Under the leadership of the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government and under the direct command of Vice Mayor Chen Gang, Administration of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum made readjustment and arrangement in such aspects as traffic, security, sanitation and voluntary services through overall deployment. All staff gave up their rest breaks and worked continuously on the front line with a high sense of political mission and responsibility. Under the full support of many departments in the city, with energetic organization and management, thoughtful and civilized services, orderly tourism and first-class environment and sanitation, the staff fulfilled the solemn promise of "Four Don't-lowers" (i.e. don't lower the management and maintenance level of the scenic areas; don't lower the level of civilized services; don't lower the level of ecological environment; don't lower the level of protection of cultural relics) and gave the people of the city and even of the country a satisfactory answer.
1. Radiation effects have arisen and stimulative effects are remarkable. Judging from the one-month operation of free admission to Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum, the free admission has enhanced the popularity and reputation of Nanjing and played a positive role in stimulating public traffic, restaurant industry, tourism, shopping and hotels. After Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum was opened to the public free of charge, the most obvious thing was the increase in the number of tourist groups from other places. A large number of tourist groups from other places readjusted their travel routes thanks to the free admission to Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum and Xuanwu Lake Park, putting Nanjing as the first stop of East China Route. Many schools from cities adjacent to Nanjing arranged for their students to receive patriotic education. After the free admission of the tomb chamber, the sales of tourist souvenirs has been encouraging and the number of people dining in restaurants has increased by a large margin, having not only promoted the growth of income not from selling tickets but also stimulated the traffic industry of the city. As shown by the data obtained from the Metro Department, passenger flow of Metro Line 2 has increased significantly since free admission.
2. The management has been improved to a higher level while security requirements have not been relaxed. The sudden increase in the number of vehicles and tourists put forward higher requirements for the traffic control and security work of the scenic area. Administration of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum has developed a special traffic management plan, adjusted the deployment of the police force, strengthened the police force at the tomb gate of "Power belongs to the people" and the intersection of Weiqiao Road, added 5 duty sites respectively at Xiamafang, Zhongshan Boai Road, Zhongshanling Parking Lot, etc., and set up a 15-person team to be ready to cope with unexpected situations at any time. On each weekend, based on the existing police force, it sent 20 additional members of law enforcement to release tourists by period of time and close the tomb in a timely manner when encountered with a larger tourist flow at the ticket entrance, the tomb gate of "Power belongs to the people" and the sacrifice-offering hall. According to the changes in internal and external traffic structure, it has also readjusted 15 monitoring places of monitoring probes. In addition, the Digital Command Center and the Municipal Bureau of Public Security realized joint defense through video monitoring and synchronized signal docking. As a result, the scenic area was kept in order with no major security incident occurring in the last month under the heavy pressure of large tourist crowds.
3. Strengthening voluntary services and creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Since the implementation of free admission to Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum, the "Zhongshanling Boai Volunteer Service Team" in their blue uniforms has been working on the front line all the time, patiently providing tourists with such services as tourist consultancy, introduction to the scenic area, traffic guidance, civilized persuasion, emergency precaution and complaint handling. Prior to the free admission to the tomb chamber, the Communist Youth League Committee of the Administration of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum recruited more than 1,000 public-spirited, high-quality volunteers, including 10 students from Taiwan and some foreign students studying in Nanjing. On each weekend since the free admission to the tomb chamber, they have provided voluntary services and ensured that there are more than 50 on-duty volunteers everyday by taking staggered work hours and taking shifts. Since the free admission to the tomb chamber, the scenic area opened 4 routes for sightseeing coaches and invested 40 sightseeing coaches, having realized the seamless connection between the public traffic and the internal traffic. In the last month, the total number of tourists transported reached 400,000. Recently, Administration of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum has invested 1.6 million yuan (RMB) to buy 20 new sightseeing coaches which will further strengthen the transport capacity. In order to better facilitate tourists, the portal website of the scenic area has opened a window of "real-time broadcast of the tourist flow at the tomb chamber of Dr. Sun yat-sen's Mausoleum", giving real-time reports on tourist flow.
4. Clean environment and sanitation have guaranteed first-class sceneries in the scenic area. Since the free admission to the tomb chamber, hundreds of cleaners have been busy with cleaning tools in their hands in such areas as the tomb chamber of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum and the adjacent parking lots in the scenic area from 7 o'clock in the morning till dark. Due to the large tourist flow, workers do not have a chance to have a rest, shuttling through the crowd and seizing every opportunity to do cleaning work in order that garbage can be dealt with in a timely manner. Since the free admission to the tomb chamber, the scenic area has immediately strengthened the technical force of park maintenance and management and the efforts of lawns and green space maintenance and management and replanted trees and shrubs in a timely manner by strengthening patrol. It has also added trash cans and notice boards featuring the themes of environmental protection. In addition, it has enhanced the staff's awareness of civilized services and carried out civilized persuasions. As estimated, the scenic area cleans up more than 20 tons of garbage everyday. The multiple efforts of cleaners have been rewarded with a clean and beautiful Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum.