District partners with international cruise ship to promote romance at sea

The local government is working with cruise companies to promote romance at sea ahead of the Qixi Festival, which takes place on Saturday and is also known as Chinese Valentine's Day.

The Hongkou District Government has collaborated with the international cruise ship Blue Dream Melody to open “Tian'ai Road at Sea” to encourage couples to celebrate special events on a cruise and boost the cruise economy.

The 520-meter-long Tian'ai Street in Hongkou District is considered the most romantic street in the city and attracts many young couples to have their photos taken here, as Tian'ai means sweet love in Chinese. After the street became famous, a marriage registration office was also set up there, which is very popular among couples.

The North Bund in Hongkou is an important cruise terminal in the city.

Twelve newlywed couples attended a ceremony on the cruise on Friday to celebrate their wedding.

Zhou Ruijie, a bride, said she only registered at the Tian'ai Road station on July 25 and applied to join the cruise after seeing a poster.

“The Tian'ai Road by the sea is very romantic,” she said. “After visiting the cruise ship today, we are considering taking a cruise as our honeymoon.”

Representatives of the Shanghai Modern Service Industry Association said the event was part of the Shanghai International Cruise Festival, which runs later this month.

To celebrate the festival, the Shanghai Sailing Post Office issued special postcards, stamps and postmarks featuring images of Shanghai's ports and cruises to promote the history and development of cruising in Shanghai.

The festival is also a highlight of the international consumer season “Shanghai Summer”.

The Shanghai International Cruise Port has become the largest cruise port in Asia and the fourth largest in the world.

From January to June, the port, including the Wusongkou and North Bund cruise terminals, received 89 cruise ships and about 592,700 passengers.