(Yicai) Jan. 4 -- Construction at the upcoming Shanghai Legoland Resort is in full swing and the theme park, which will boast rides and attractions unavailable anywhere in the world, is expected to open to great fanfare around the spring or summer of next year, Shanghai Observer reported yesterday.

Once up and running, Shanghai Legoland should attract between three million and five million tourists a year to the city’s southwestern Jinshan district, the report said, citing experts who attended a convention held in the district to promote the urban development of the Shanghai Bay Area on Jan. 2.

The resort, operated by British leisure giant Merlin Entertainments, covers an area of 318,000 square meters and comprises a theme park and a 250-room Lego-themed hotel, specially designed for children between the ages of two and 12.

Shanghai Legoland will help drive growth in the southwestern suburbs of the megacity and generate a synergy with tourist attractions in Zhejiang province and other neighboring regions, General Manager Chen Jie told Yicai previously. This will help create new landmarks that integrate theme parks and old towns, to generate new growth points for Shanghai’s tourism sector.

China is already the world’s second-largest market for theme parks and it is expected to continue to grow. There are two other Legoland resorts that are also under construction in the country, namely one in Shenzhen in southern Guangdong province and one in the Tianfu New Area in southwestern Sichuan province.

Merlin, which is the world’s second-biggest entertainment group behind The Walt Disney Company, was one of the first international groups to open themed amusement complexes in China, starting with the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Shanghai in 2006.

Editor: Kim Taylor