Shanghai's first vegetable park will open to the public on October 1, the Youth Daily reported today.

 

The park is in Xinghuo Farm in Fengxian District near the bay of Fengxian.

 

More than half of the park has been completed, including a main greenhouse covering 5,000 square meters.

 

The construction project for the park is in two or three phases.

 

The first phase covered more than 200,000 square meters. In the center is a 44,000-square meter man-made lake, which will be where the fish are kept.

 

Around the lake, several specific zones will be built such as one for vegetable picking, a rare vegetable exhibition room, a vegetable and fruit bar and children's world, the report said.

 

In the greenhouse, tomatoes, pumpkins and beans have grown into "big trees." The crown of a tomato tree reaches 64 square meters in area and the tree is able to produce more than 10,000 tomatoes compared with only 10 from a normal tomato tree.

 

Experts on agricultural sciences said that the unusual growth of the vegetables is due to the indoor environment.

 

Besides common vegetables, more than 300 species of rare vegetables and fruits will be planted in the park, the report said.

 

Address: 999 Haizhen Road, Block 1, Haiwan Town

 

Tel: 5750-5353

 

Tickets: Currently under discussion but likely to be around 30 yuan.

 

(Shanghai Daily May 25, 2007)