World's largest polar park on way

Work will begin this year in the Pudong New Area on the world's biggest polar ocean park, officials said on Thursday.

Visitors will be able to meet residents such as polar bears, emperor penguins, dolphins and beluga whales.

The Shanghai Polar Ocean World will be in Lingang New City near Dishui Lake, officials said.

The polar park project will cover 300,000 square meters and be the world's biggest both in terms of size and the number of animals, officials with the Pudong New Area said.

The theme park itself, with 146,000-square-meter construction area, will include several themed pavilions.

However, the authority could not say when the park will open.

Lingang is 75 kilometers from downtown Shanghai, along the southeast coast at the mouth of Hangzhou Bay.

It has about 3,000 permanent residents, but development could see that rise to 800,000, earlier reports said.