A new museum recently launched in Taiwan had to turn away around 25,000 people on the opening day, due to its extreme popularity.

The 40,000sq m (430,500sq ft) Chimei Museum in Tainan opened its doors after four years of construction to a throng of people on 3 January, but it was only able to accomodate 5,000 visitors out of an estimated 30,000 through the day.

The new museum, which replaces the original facility first opened in 1992, cost around NT$2bn (US$63m, €52.8m, £41.5m) to build and houses more than 13,000 objects in its collection across three storeys. Roughly half of these objects are currently on display.

Most notably, the Chimei Museum has one of the largest collections of violins in the world, as well as significant collections of ancient weapons and Western paintings and sculptures.

“The launch of the museum bears testament to entrepreneurs giving back to society,” said Tainan mayor William Lai, speaking at the inauguration ceremony. “It also brings the city a step closer to its goal of becoming the country’s cultural capital.”

A regular ticket price of NT$200 (US$6.28, €5.27, £4.14) applies to non-Tainan residents, while citizens of the southern city enjoy free admission.