Shanghai residents are complaining to the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau that they are barred from entering the wedding club portion of Gucun Park even if they paid the entrance fee of 20 yuan (US$3).
A security guard prevents park visitors from entering the wedding club, one of the six business ventures inside the recreation area that the park operators leased. However, the five others had closed and only the wedding club is still operating.
To outwit the security guard, a young woman who was accompanied by her grandfather - a local resident named Wu who was denied access - told the sentry that she wants to see the club because she plans to hold her wedding there, reports Shanghai Morning Post.
Jane Liu, from Baoshan District, agrees with Wu that all areas of the park should be open to visitors, if these places are not offices or being renovated. Gucun Park is known for its more than 10,000 cherry blossom trees spread over 660,000 square meters.
The 28 varieties of cherry blossoms are the main attraction of the park's 27-day Cherry Blossoms Festival held during spring. The park attracts about 200,000 visitors daily, notes CCTV.
The club has a garden with three manors with Mediterranean, Asian and British themes. Besides the three manors, the club, named "Yingguan Manor," has a 20,000-square meter lawn and banquet hall which makes the place picturesque.
But an employee of the club says the area is rented to the club which is costly for the Gucun Park to maintain. To cover the cost, the Yingguan Manor charges 3,888 yuan to couples who would hold their wedding banquet at the park.
The construction of high-end dining establishments, tea houses and clubs at public parks is banned under a 2013 guideline issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. The explanation for the prohibition is that these exclusive establishments serve only a small group of people, a magnet for corruption and causes discontent in society, according to Xinhua News Agency.
However, following the public uproar, the park management allowed visitors as of Tuesday afternoon access to the wedding club. In addition, the bureau also ordered the club to lower the prices of its food and avoid making the club a high-end venue for weddings.