Shanghai nixes famed lantern festival after deadly stampede

A 2014 file photo shows tourists flooding the street during the Lunar New Year lantern festival in Shanghai.[Photo/IC]

BEIJING - China's financial hub of Shanghai has canceled its famed Lunar New Year lantern festival in the wake of a stampede that left 36 people dead.

The announcement on Sunday illustrates the spreading effects of the Jan 1 disaster, in which surging crowds trampled people along the city's legendary Bund riverfront walkway.

Events as far away as in Beijing have been canceled and security tightened in crowded public spaces.

The upcoming three-day festival in the city's Yuyuan Garden draws more than 1 million people.

The company that runs the garden and the Shanghai city government said in statement that the event was being canceled out of "safety concerns."

It didn't directly mention the stampede, pointing to concerns over continuing public outrage over security lapses and a lack of government explanations.

On Saturday, Chinese tourism authorities issued a set of guidelines on how to determine the maximum number of people that should be allowed in at popular scenic spots.

The national Tourism Administration has asked all tourists hotspots in the country to calculate their respective maximum bearing capacity and formulate appropriate emergency plans to control the flow of visitors.

This is the first time that a uniform set of guidelines have been issued nationwide.

The guidelines have defined standards for seven different types of Scenic spots, such as sites with cultural relics and ancient districts.

For example, at the site of the world famous Terra Cotta Warriors, each person must have a space of 2.5 to 10 square meters to move about.