Titanic resurfaces ... in China!

A replica of the famous "Titanic" ship, of its natural size, began to appear in the depths of the Chinese countryside, but this copy will never sink and you will never see the sea because it is located in the middle of the fields, where an amusement park is established dedicated to this ship, whose sinking is a landmark historical event. .

Four cranes top a huge dry dock on the banks of a river in Sining (southwestern China), where workers wearing yellow protective helmets are busy working around the hull of a giant ship.

This workshop will eventually produce a giant replica of the "Titanic", the ship that sank more than a century ago in the Atlantic Ocean and whose sinking killed more than 1,500 passengers and crew.

"It is a very complex project," said Su Shaojun, who was behind the idea.

"We are building a ship the size of an aircraft carrier," but on the ground, he added in front of a model of the ship in his office.

The nearest sea to Cening is more than a thousand kilometers away.

But the entrepreneur is convinced that the curious will nevertheless come to visit the Titanicland theme park dedicated to the ship.

The project, costing 10 billion yuan (1.4 billion dollars), is scheduled to open at the end of the year.

The Titanic was in its day the largest cruise ship ever.

It was believed to be unsinkable, but to this day it is still synonymous with the greatest disaster in marine history.

Like the original, Su's replica is 260 meters long and took six years to build, double the time it took to build the real Titanic, with the participation of 100 workers and using 23,000 tons of steel.

Everything in Titanic is entirely Chinese-inspired, from the dining room to the luxurious cabins and even the doorknobs.

In order to give realism to the atmosphere, the real steam engine will give visitors the impression that they are already in the middle of the sea, using the stars - and Sue assured that "Titanic experts and historians have approved the building plans."

The price for a night's stay in the "Titanic" version is 2,000 yuan (about $ 310).

Seeking to fully integrate into the atmosphere of "Titanic", tourists touring the park by minibus will hear "My Heart Will Go On" that formed the soundtrack to the cinematic "Titanic" with Leonardo DiCaprio.

The film was a huge success in China when it was shown there in 1997.

The world's most famous ship made headlines again in China recently, with the release of a documentary that revealed the stories of six Chinese survivors of its sinking.

Despite the Chinese interest in this ship, some question the viability of the replica.

A few years ago, a replica of an American aircraft carrier that cost $ 18 million to build was erected, but it was abandoned shortly after its inauguration.

However, Sue is betting on the number of visitors to his ship between two million and five million tourists annually, and he hopes to have some support to achieve this.

“We want to invite at the opening ceremony to Jack and Rose,” the film's two main characters, as well as to its director, James Cameron, Sue said.

The "Titanic" sailed in April 1912 from Southampton (southern Britain) heading to New York, but it crashed after it collided with an iceberg off the coast of Canada.

The shipwreck, which was not found until 1985, is 4,000 meters deep.