A water park will be opened in the summer this year to the southwest of Shanghai Happy Valley, which has become a new tourism landmark in the Yangtze River Delta region after four years of development.

Playa Maya, a sister park of Shanghai Happy Valley, costs more than 400 million yuan ($63 million) to build and covers a total area of about 120,000 square meters.

As the biggest open-air water park in East China, Playa Maya will be open from mid-June to mid-Sept every year, said Xu Fei, a member of the administrative staff at Shanghai OCT Co Ltd, which built the 4-billion-yuan Happy Valley in the city's Sheshan district in 2009.

The park will be equipped with 12 sets of imported aquatic amusement facilities. It will have the world's biggest wave pool, which has water area of 14,600 sq m and can create 3.5-meter-high waves, providing tourists a unique merry experience.

At the same time, the park will offer cultural performances with special stage technology, such as a laser water curtain and wave making.

The Shanghai municipal government will give its full support to promote Playa Maya as a tourist project during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15).

yangfeiyue@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/05/2013 page17)