Several wax figures were scratched or had clothing stained at Madame Tussauds Shanghai, the first on the Chinese mainland, during the Labor Day holiday. But management said yesterday they understood the behavior and would not add extra measures to protect the wax figures.

The museum has received about 3,500 visitors per day since opening on May 1, said Sun Junpu, an employee at the popular museum.

"We have to do repair work every day, almost every statue has fingernail scratches left by passionate visitors," Sun said.

He cited the figure of Andy Lau, a famous singer and actor from Hong Kong, as one of the most popular attractions.

"It was a bit messy yesterday since visitors got so excited," said another employee who declined to be named. "They want to be close to their icons. As a result Lau's face was scratched a lot and his white shirt became black."

Previous media reports claimed the museum had to remove the figure of Lau and add bodyguards to protect other models.

But the museum's management denied the report.

"It is common that the color fades on statues and there are some scratches, but until now there has been no major damage such as broken arms or legs," said Lisa Cao, a public relations employee for Madame Tussauds Shanghai.

Several visitors said people behaved appropriately.

"Visitors are excited since most have never been to a wax museum before and the figures look so real that everyone wants to take pictures," said Jia Min, who visited the museum with his daughter. "But people just posed beside the statues. If they touched the statues, it was just shaking its hand," he added.

Madame Tussauds Shanghai is the sixth branch of the wax museum worldwide.

"Visitors are excited since most have never been to a wax museum before and the figures look so real that everyone wants to take pictures."

(Shanghai Daily May 8, 2006)