BEIJING, June 4 -- ShanghaiPort International Cruise Terminal will start trial operations on August 5.

    Located in the north Bund facing the Oriental Pearl, the terminal is expected to deal with 1 million passengers a year. The terminal will be composed of 13 individual buildings when the first phase of construction is finished. Its 850-meter long coast can dock three luxury liners at the same time.

    Among the 13 buildings, the Grand Hall is the most distinctive for its "waterdrop" shape. Once completed, it will look like a waterdrop suspended beside the Huangpu River.

    The surrounding 20,000-square-meter greenland has already been finished.

    Of the 400,000-square-meter construction areas, 245,000 square meters is underground, parallel with the Huangpu River for 214 meters and 4.6 meters from the flood wall at the shortest distance. Once it is put into use, more luxury liners will be attracted and more new routes developed. From the Bund, liners can reach Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan within 48 hours.

    The construction of the center began in January 2004, with a total investment of 260 million U.S. dollars.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)