The city's largest man-made forest will open to the public next year, officials of the Shanghai Greenery Administrative Bureau said.

Named the Shanghai National Gulf Forest Park, the forest is located in Wusi Farm in Fengxian District, 60 kilometers away from the downtown.

The park covers 1,065 hectares, including a coastline that extends for 5.3 kilometers.

The section to open next year will be around 700 hectares, said Dong Yinchang, spokesperson for the contractor overseeing the project, Shanghai Century Forest Development Co Ltd.

More than 4 million plants representing 350 species grow in the forest.

A bamboo woods will feature more than 20 species.

Animals introduced to the forest include birds, rabbits, frogs, snakes, and spiders.

"We are making an ecological circle as close as possible to natural forests," said Dong.

A man-made forest needs a long time to develop its ecological circle, officials noted. This forest has unique challenges.

The National Gulf Forest Park was built on a wetland that used to be in the East China Sea, but slowly rose above sea level.

"Such land isn't that suitable for afforestation, but I have to admit what they've done pretty impressive," said Wang Xihua, associate professor with East China Normal University.

During the seven-year construction of the park, workers created 185 manmade hills and 22.5 kilometers of river courses.

Officials said they expected the project to complete before 2010.

(Source: www.shanghai.gov.cn )