Dishui Lake, China's largest urban artificial lake and a landmark scenic spot in the Lingang Special Area of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, is rapidly transforming into an “urban livingroom” suitable for business, living and tourism. In the two years since the inauguration of the Special Area, various cultural landscapes and tourist leisure destinations have been continuously constructed and enriched around Dishui Lake.

Spacious place turned into a parent-children paradise

In recent days, all kinds of attractions with poetic landscapes and wonderful experiences along Dishui Lake have intensively opened in the Dishui Lake area. There was the opening ceremony of the urban sculpture competition for shortlisted works, the world's largest astronomy museum, Shanghai’s largest sponge park, and Shanghai’s first self-driving bus which set off for a trial run for the first time.

The sponge park in Lingang Special Area

Compared with the emptiness of the Lingang Special Area a few years ago, it has completely changed. The distinctive sights along the roads has also lead passenger flow to nearby spots such as the China Maritime Museum and Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park. Crowds of tourists and a steady stream of traffic has been a novel scene in the Lingang Special Area. In 2020 and the first half of 2021, the area received 5.52 million tourists, including 1.49 million tourists from January to June 2021, which was a year-on-year increase of 287 percent.

Various eye-catching outdoor activities suitable for local conditions

On August 20, 2019, this area ushered in new opportunities for development. The geographical location of the area, which is surrounded by sea, and the financial services companies that are located here, has seen it called the “Dishui Lake Financial Bay”, and has also activated a round of development of outdoor infrastructure.

Lingang Tour Map

In addition to the outdoor activities held in specific seasons, the daily entertainment activities along Dishui Lake have also been carefully planned. For example, the whole area is divided into seven functional sectors such as a children's playground, a sports areas for basketball and tennis, a sailing club and so on. There are also other specific recreational projects such as an amusement park, a recreational pirate ship, a landscaped garden and a famous sculpture garden that all meet the needs of tourists of different ages.

In addition, the industrial tour carried out in the Lingang Special Area in combination with industrial characteristics is also developing. Since the first batch of industrial tourism routes were opened last year, 20 routes have been launched.

Culture and art are integrated into the scenery of the sea and lake

In the future, the Lingang Special Area has a more ambitious goal. During the 14th Five-Year Plan (from 2021 to 2025) period, the Lingang Special Area has set the goal of building an independent, comprehensive and modern coastal city, and strives to achieve a total value of about 1.5 billion dollars (10 billion RMB) in the cultural, tourism and sports industries, receiving an annual number of tourists up to 1,500 person-times per month at the Class-A scenic spots.

Effect drawing of commercial space of the Dishui Lake subway station

The building of cultural soft power is also essential. In August last year, the first large-scale public welfare cultural project, the Dishui Lake Chinese Artists' Sculpture Park, was opened. In the two-kilometer public space along the lake, 100 excellent sculpture works can delight tourists. A year later, these famous sculptures light up the night sky of the city with beautiful lights.

The Dishui Lake Chinese Artists' Sculpture Park

Now, if citizens and tourists walk around the Lingang Special Area, they can also enjoy elegant art. When the Shanghai Astronomy Museum opened in July this year, a starry-sky concert integrating classical performance, singing repertoire and original music was held. The troupe affiliated to the Arts Group of the Shanghai Grand Theatre enrich the cultural life of citizens with on-site performances.

Behind the changes, the development idea of integration and symbiosis of culture, sports and tourism in the Lingang Special Area is becoming clearer.