China to build firefly park in S coastal city

XIAMEN, March 4 (Xinhua) -- An island park, the home to more than 10,000 fireflies, will light up the nights off Xiamen, a coastal city in southeastern China's Fujian Province, this summer.

The park, the first of its kind on the Chinese mainland, will also serve as an education center to improve the public's awareness of energy-saving, said park sponsor Jia Qiang, president of the Xiamen-based Firefly Lightning Co., Ltd.

"It will not only be a good choice for relaxation, but also a lovely classroom in energy-saving."

Located at Yuanbo Island about 20 kilometers from downtown Xiamen, the park includes a 5,000 cubic meter firefly house and exhibition hall. Construction of the buildings was expected to be completed by June.

"Children are allowed to play with the fireflies and the adults are also able to revive their happy memories of childhood with these insects," Jia said.

Through cooperation with experts from Shandong Agriculture University, the park has been raising several species of fireflies in Xiamen since August.