Shanghai Puts a Spin on Its Highroller Image

Shanghai is to get a new symbol of its increasingly highrolling lifestyle: a giant ferris wheel that would overtake the London Eye as the biggest in the world.

According to the government-controlled Shanghai Daily, the new attraction will have a diameter of 170 metres - 35 metres more than its counterpart on the south bank of the Thames.

The "Shanghai Star" is also likely to be more of a communal experience because each of
its 36 wagons will have enough space for 30 people.

For 100 yuan (£6.50), passengers will get a 30-minute ride that takes in one of the world's most spectacular cityscapes.

When completed in 2008, the wheel will spin alongside the Huangpu river, just north of the art deco buildings on the Bund waterfront.

It is likely to be an imposing sight in its own right, since it will be built on top of 50-metre-high entertainment complex.

The wheel is part of Shang hai's drive to become one of Asia's foremost entertainment and shopping centres.

Already a commercial powerhouse, the city on China's south-east coast has embarked upon a series of vast construction projects, which are aimed for completion before it hosts the 2010 Expo.

Engineers are already at work on the world's tallest building and the world's longest suspension bridge.

In the past few years, the city has also opened a giant new formula one racing circuit and started services on the world's fastest train line.

"The motivation behind the project is to set up a new landmark structure that matches the city's image as an international metropolis," the Shanghai Daily quoted the wheel's chief designer as saying.

But the London Eye does have one advantage. On a clear day, passengers can see for 25 miles. Even with its greater height, riders of the Shanghai Star will be lucky to ever see that far through the smog that frequently envelops the city.