China’s ode to the Titanic to open as tourist draw

A theme park in China is making a true-to-size replica of the Titanic. Photo: Getty

China has been diligently building a full replica of the infamous shop the Titanic in what’s hoped will be a huge tourism drawcard.

And just to make sure it’s super safe, it will be completely landlocked.

The replica has been in the works for a few years in the Sichuan province of Daying County, where it’ll be the cornerstone of a theme park called Romandisea.

But it will be more of a tribute to James Cameron’s 1997 film of the same name, rather than a tribute to the ship that had been thought unsinkable.

An aerial shot of the ship-in-progress, which doesn’t yet have an open date. Photo: Getty

“We’d like to invite Jack, Rose and James Cameron to the inauguration ceremony,” investor Su Shaojun told AFP.

Tour buses will blast the iconic Celine Dion track My Heart Will Go On on repeat as they show visitors around the park.

And if you want to stay a night aboard the vessel, it’ll cost nearly $200 to be lulled to sleep by the soft sounds of a real steam engine.

“I hope this ship will be here in 100 or 200 years,” Mr Shaojun said.

“We are building a museum for the Titanic.”

Investor Su Shaojun sold off a lot of his investments to be a part of the project. Photo: Getty

So far, the 260-metre-long replica has taken $200 million and six years to build.

(It only took one year to build the original, but granted, there were 14,000 employees working on its construction.)

The original Titanic was only at sea for four days (April 10 to April 15, 1912) before it sunk, killing some 1500 people.