(Yicai) Aug. 16 -- The world’s largest indoor ski resort was completed in the Lingang Special Area of China Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and will open to the public in just 20 days.

With a business floor space of more than 110,000 square meters, Wintastar Shanghai is expected to kick off operations on Sept. 6, according to the venue’s inauguration ceremony held yesterday.

Wintastar Shanghai has two major areas, one snow-themed and the other water-themed. The first has a business floor space of over 90,000 sqm and contains a large indoor ski resort using non-artificial snow and nearly 20 snow-themed entertainment projects. The second has an area of nearly 20,000 sqm and contains almost 20 water-themed entertainment projects.

Shanghai has no large indoor facilities for winter sports and entertainment, so the opening of Wintastar Shanghai will fill the void. Moreover, it will also help the Lingang Special Area achieve its goal of welcoming 15 million tourists annually by the end of next year.

Lingang Special Area’s strategy follows Shanghai’s ‘young city for young people’ motto and aims to build urban infrastructures and hold relevant cultural and sports events, Miao Ting, deputy director of Lingang Special Area Administration, said at the inauguration ceremony.

Since the beginning of this year, Lingang Special Area has hosted over 200 sports competitions and events of various kinds, including the Shanghai Sailing Open 2024, Spartan Races, and triathlon championships, Miao Ting noted.

There are 41 hotels with more than 50 rooms in Lingang Special Area now, for a total of 6,035 rooms, said Zhang Xiaoyan, an official at the department of business and tourism of Lin-gang Special Area Administration. By the end of next year, the number of hotels will likely exceed 50, with nearly 10,000 rooms, which would be enough to host tens of millions of tourists every year, she added.

Since Lingang Special Area’s inception in August 2019, local tourism has achieved a revenue of over CNY5 billion (USD701.3 million), welcoming around 29.3 million tourists.

Editor: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione