THE city aspires to win the title of the “best tourist destination” in China before 2015.

    A five-year tourism development plan from 2011 to 2015 mapped out the city as an international maritime resort center and an international marine sports center.

    The city will spend a total of 86.1 billion yuan (US$12.8 billion) to develop 58 tourist projects to be finished before 2015.

    The facilities will include holiday resorts, maritime travel offerings, cultural experience centers, sports centers, venues for exhibition and celebration, countryside resorts and shopping centers.

    At least five tourism attractions such as Ocean Spring Resort and Maritime Carnival Theme Park will be built and the city will have up to 20 new hotels such as Sunshine Bo’ao Hotel and Golden Beach Hotel.

    A statue of Laozi, one of the greatest philosophers in China and the founder of Taoism, will be erected in Laozi Square at Taiqing Temple in Laoshan and will be the biggest in the country.

    More than 300 villages in Qingdao also planned to offer special tours for those visiting Qingdao.

    (Chen Ting, Fu Jun)