The name of China's first domestically built cruise ship, "Adora Magic City," was revealed on May 19, which is also China Tourism Day. It is expected to hit the waters by the end of 2023.

The 135,500-ton ship has a capacity of 5,246 passengers and a length of 323.6 meters.

Its sailing routes will include ports in Japan and Southeast Asian countries, as well as along the Maritime Silk Road, providing tourists with a variety of possibilities.

The ship's name corresponds to Shanghai's nickname "modu" (魔都), or the "magic city."

"Modu" is commonly used by Shanghai's youngsters.

In Chinese, "mo" denotes magic and can also mean fascinating, whereas "du" means city or capital. The nickname reflects the unique charm of Shanghai.

It recreates the charm of Shanghai at sea by rebuilding a "maritime city" with an East-meets-West style.

By combining the concepts of "Modern (摩登), Magic (魔力) and Miracle (魔幻)," the name reflects infinite ingenuity and innovation, revealing the trendy side of Shanghai as "the capital of cruise liners," the innovative glamor of its classic culture, and a cross-industry integration of Eastern and Western cultures and tourism elements.

According to the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism, the name reflects the ship's "Shanghai design" and "Shanghai manufacturing" identities, as well as an ambition to promote haipai (Shanghai-style) culture and the inheritance of the city's cultural essence.

According to officials, the ship will serve as a "floating name card at sea," promoting Shanghai, and will transport tourists from home and abroad to experience haipai culture.

"We have great expectations as the public is keen on high-quality cruise tourism, and now we have a domestically built ship," said Fang Shizhong, director general of the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism.

"We expect it to become a 'living parlor of haipai culture' floating at sea," Fang said.

The ship is scheduled to take visitors on an inventive cultural adventure journey at sea of Adora Cruises, a newly created cruise brand by CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping Ltd.

The interior décor and rigorous testing of the ship, which is being built at the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipyard, are nearing completion. It will sail from Shanghai as its home port after it is delivered by the end of this year.

The ship will have the largest shopping center at sea thanks to a strategic alliance with duty-free behemoth China Duty Free Group, and it will be the first cruise ship to be covered by a 5G network thanks to its collaboration with Shanghai Telecom.

The Adora Shopping Center, which will be around 2,000 square meters in size, will feature all popular categories, including world-renowned designer brands, fine watches and jewelry, fashion jewelry, high fashion, beauty and fragrance, art collections and more.

It will also establish a special shopping zone that will include unique Chinese brands as well as popular and creative cultural products.

In addition, the ship will have the first live comedy theater at sea in conjunction with Mahua FunAge, a prominent Chinese comedy film and stage play production firm.

A brand-new song and dance spectacle offered by Selection International Entertainment, "Marco Polo: An Enchanted Love Tale," is expected to enrich the experience of guests.

Meanwhile, on the cruise liner, a brand-new production show called "Magic City," which shares the same name as the ship, will debut, presenting the city's varied "kaleidoscope" culture on stage.

Deepen cooperation

"From Shanghai design and construction to Shanghai operation and Shanghai brand, the ship embodies the city's cultural essence," Yang Guobing, chairman of CCTD & CSSC-Carnival, remarked.

"We will continue to innovate in technology and launch more cruise ships that bear Chinese elements and meet international standards, providing more tourism options to the public and contributing to the construction of Shanghai's shipping center," he added.

Also, on Friday, the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism signed a strategic collaboration agreement with CCTD.

The agreement calls for the two parties to expand their collaboration in areas such as cruise development and the promotion of cruise culture and tourism destinations.

They will work together to ensure the high-quality growth of the entire cruise industry chain and to promote the development of China's cruise industry.

The collaboration will significantly boost the competitiveness and influence of domestic cruise brands, as well as empower the design, construction, supporting facilities and port of Shanghai's cruise industry chain, laying a solid foundation for the development of Shanghai's cruise tourism.

Shanghai is Asia's largest cruise home port and the world's fourth-largest.

Between 2008 and 2020, Shanghai received around 3,000 cruise liners, resulting in 15 million trips from domestic and international tourists.

In late March, the China Ministry of Transport approved the restart of international cruise operations in Shanghai and Shenzhen on a trial basis.

According to the cruise operator, the design and building of China's second domestically made major cruise ship under Adora Cruises have started.