The 1.75-billion-yuan (US$ 181.45 million), glass-and-steel facility in Pudong, designed by RTKL International of Los Angeles, opened to the public yesterday, and city officials were understandably beaming with pride at what they call their most significant undertaking this year.

"This is one of the best scientific museums in the world, on a par with or even surpassing the great places in the US like the renowned Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia," said Henry Levine, the American Consul General in Shanghai, who was among the delighted visitors yesterday.

Like the Orient Pearl Broadcasting and TV Tower and Shanghai International Convention Center, the museum boasts state-of-the-art design, with standout features like its off-center tower and its gigantic sphere of alloyed aluminum. These and other eye-popping assets have prompted local officials to apply for its inclusion on US-based Progressive Architecture's top 10 list of outstanding structural achievements, which includes Sydney's famed Opera House.

The museum, for which ground was broken in 1998, is tailored to spur the curiosity of children, ensure pleasure and convenience for their parents, and match the expectations of the business community.

Right from the "smart" admission ticket that lets you exit and re-enter the building as you please, you know you're in for some scientific marvels.

Ahead lie a theater where three-dimensional films are screened that, with the help of some tactile tricks, fully draw the audience into the action, a hands-on, hair-raising jolt of static electricity, and a barrage of music coming from 128 directions. There are hundreds of interactive programs that draw on the research of 22 scientific institutes and universities.

Apart from its entertainment and educational aspects, the museum will be a grand venue for news conferences, business gatherings and social galas.

Zhu Lida, vice chairman of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum Management Co., told Shanghai Daily that the non-exhibition area, comprising a third of the museum's 98,000 square meters, can be modulated in any variation of meeting venues that would accommodate up to 10,000 people.

"Most venues that were used to host the APEC meetings in October will be available once the museum completes its trial opening period in three or four months," said Zhu. "Despite its steep rental cost - equivalent to that of five-star hotel halls - the museum is already fully booked until next August."

The prestigious APEC venues to be open include one large room for bilateral sessions on the second floor, a grand banquet hall and a senior officials' dining room on the fourth floor. The main meeting room will be kept as a commemorative site.

The museum now belongs to the public at large: it's open six days a week (except Monday) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and officials are considering longer hours on weekends after the trial period. The facility is at No. 2000 Century Boulevard in Pudong, near the Yanggao Road station on Metro Line 2.

(eastday.com December 19, 2001)