Yu Garden, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Shanghai, has rolled out crowd control measures to cope with the large number of visitors expected to turn up for its annual lantern show on Friday, the day of the Lantern Festival.

As of Thursday, directional signs and queue barriers have been put up to prevent overcrowding and ensure smooth traffic flow. The management said that the number of visitors to the tourist attraction will be controlled throughout Friday and at certain timings on Saturday and Sunday.

Visitors to Yu Garden will be charged entrance fees ranging from 30 to 80 yuan ($4.70-12.60) from Mar 2 to 4. Admission to the venue is usually free.

Located beside the City God Temple in the northeastern part of the old city of Shanghai, Yu Garden was first built in 1559 by an official of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Official figures show that more than 130,000 tourists visited the areas around Yu Garden during last year's Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month on the Chinese calendar.

During the Golden Week holiday on Oct 2, 2017, the area recorded its highest daily record in three years with visitor numbers hitting 224,000.