Latest Chinese Attraction: A Full-Sized Replica of the Titanic

It’s been almost 110 years since the sinking of the Titanic, and yet the story of the doomed vessel has continued to resonate with generation after generation. The story of the ship has inspired everything from award-winning films and plays to works of fiction and nonfiction. It’s become shorthand for a kind of fateful ambition, and a timeless account of human engineering colliding with the natural world.

One of the side effects of the Titanic‘s continuing presence in popular culture? People keep wanting to build replicas of it. Titanic II, a seafaring vessel that would replicate the original version, has had a long and occasionally interrupted path towards completion; as of last year, Titanic II was exploring a 2022 launch.

For those intrigued by the idea of walking aboard the Titanic but unwilling to tempt fate, there’s also a project underway in China to build a replica of the ship as the featured attraction in an amusement park. A new report by Noel Celis and Qian Ye at Yahoo News has details on the planned replica and the park slated to surround it.

The article notes that the replica has taken longer to build than the original ship — six years — with a cost estimated at $153.5 million. And the theme park’s Titanic fixation expands to a number of homages to James Cameron’s film about the ship, including tour buses constantly playing Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” How you reacted to that last sentence probably determines whether or not this will be your next vacation destination.