Ten new sightseeing buses set to go into operation tomorrow will pass around 15 famous tourist sights in the city and provide passengers with an audio guide service in eight different languages, Shanghai tourism authorities told the Global Times Wednesday.

The 10 buses, painted red, will ply two different routes. The No.1 route, which will have eight of the vehicles, is mostly on the Puxi side of the Huangpu River, while the No.2 route, with two buses, focuses mainly on Pudong New Area.

Each route starts at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center at People's Square, and runs every 15 minutes from 9 am to 9 pm from April to October, while for the rest of the year they run from 9 am to 7 pm.

Tickets can be bought onboard for 30 yuan ($4.49), and are valid on both routes for 24 hours following purchase.

Each passenger can take a child shorter than 1.4 meters for free. Passengers will also get a free Shanghai map and earphones through which they can listen to the audio guide, which introduces attractions as the bus passes them. The eight languages are Chinese, English, Japanese, French, Spanish, German, Russian and Korean.

The No.1 route will pass Century Plaza, Nanjing Road East, the Bund, Yuyuan Garden, Xintiandi and Shanghai Museum, using double-decker open-top buses.

The No.2 route passes the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Jinmao Tower, although the buses are single-deck as they need to pass through a tunnel to cross the Huangpu River.

"The tickets can also be used to visit Shanghai Ancient City Wall," Su Guangjian, the head of the Domestic Tourism Promotion Department of Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration, told the Global Times Wednesday.

The buses are jointly operated by the administration and Shanghai Spring International Travel Service.

There are eight open-top double-deckers serving as sightseeing buses currently in operation in Shanghai, which cost 100 yuan ($14.96) per person for 48 hours of use.

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