China to build 3bln pounds theme park in Tibet

Lhasa, July 9 (Xinhua-ANI): The government of Lhasa, capital of China's Tibet autonomous region, will invest 30 billion yuan (4.7 billion U.S. dollars) to build a massive culture and tourism park in the next three to five years.

The park, with a planned area of 800 hectares, will be located at a village 2 km from downtown Lhasa, Ma Xinming, deputy mayor of Lhasa city, told a press briefing on Friday.

It will improve Tibet's tourism credentials and be a landmark of its cultural industry, said Ma.

The park will include attractions themed around Princess Wencheng, daughter of Emperor Li Shimin of the prosperous Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), who married Tibetan King Songtsan Gambo when she was 16. The princess, along with a dowry consisting of numerous treasures, books, golden furniture and medical equipment, traveled 3,000 km to her new home.

Visitors will be offered regular Wencheng-based outdoor performances and other educational and entertainment facilities tracing the footsteps of the princess in Tibet.

The culture and tourism park will also include an "Art City," home to displays of Tibetan handicrafts and medicine, and a "Folk City," where tourists can get a taste of local life and buy folk goods.

Cultural innovation, business and residential districts will also be incorporated into the project. (Xinhua-ANI)