The blueprint of Hainan Space Theme Park. [Photo:hiwenchang.com]

The foundation stone-laying ceremony for the theme park was held in December, 2010. [Photo:hainan.news.cn]

With an investment reaching 30 billion yuan, Hainan Space Theme Park, one of the key projects in Hainan Province's ambition to build an international tourism destination, has won support from China's Astronaut Research and Training Center in Beijing and the Space Home Pavilion exhibited at the Shanghai Expo.

During a recent interview with China Radio International reporters in Haikou, capital city of Hainan Province, Lin Fangxian, deputy director of Hainan Aerospace Investment Management Co., Ltd., the company undertaking the theme park project, revealed they signed a cooperation agreement with China Astronaut Research and Training Center to jointly set up an educational camp for juvenile space science fans. The company has gone through all paperwork needed to receive approval of relocating the Space Home Pavilion to its theme park site.

The theme park, to be finished in 2013, is expected to encourage tourists who are usually drawn by the beaches of Hainan's capital city Sanya, to take a detour and explore tourism resources off the coastline.

"Most tourists come for the coastal charm of Hainan, but there is more to this place than beaches and sunshine," Lin said, "the space theme park is located in Wenchang, a city in northern Hainan island, famous for its wide expanse of coconut trees."

The project created jobs for over 1,500 locals and protects the eco environment during construction, the layout of the park is designed to center on the distribution of coconut trees.

"Tropical weather in Hainan makes vegetation essential to any architecture; they not only screen over the amount of sunshine but add to air humidity, so we should protect the natural environment," Lin explained.

Its two main purposes are to educate and entertain; the theme park would consist of four sections, namely: Earth Zone, Lunar Zone, Martian Zone and Solar Zone.

One highlight of the park is its interactive programs, Lin added. Visitors can take a tram tour to observe the rocket launch center to be built by the theme park in Wenchang. There will be a botanical garden housing all plants and seeds brought back from space by astronauts. Visitors can conduct experiments to see changes in plants before and after its treatment from space conditions.

The theme park is scheduled to be completed in 2013, open to public in 2014 and is expecting a visitor flux of 15,000 tourists within its first year.