WHILE embracing the first sight of the New Year sunshine, 100 Qingdao residents became the first visitors to the Qingdao Bay Bridge Jan. 1, the world’s longest sea bridge opened only a few days earlier.

    The visitors were overwhelmed by the sight of the bridge and the scenery and took photos during the four-hour trip.

    The bridge stretches 13.2 kilometers, farther than the distance between Dover and Calais and longer than a marathon. It took four years to build and cost US$8.55 billion. The six-lane expressway is designed to withstand earthquakes up to magnitude 8.0, strong typhoons and the impact of a 300,000-ton vessel. It is almost 1.5 kilometers longer than the previous record-holder, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana in the United States. (Jane Lai, Zang Lei)