CHINA plans to open what it has billed the world's first theme park dedicated entirely to gold, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Construction of the theme park kicked off Saturday (Mar 17) near a working mine at Rushan city, East China's Shandong Province.

When the 3.6-square-kilometer, 200-million-yuan (US$25 million) park is completed, it will allow visitors to watch gold being mined and processed.

It will also include a DIY area where the visitors themselves can be gold miners for a day, according to the agency.

China is the world's third-biggest market for gold after India and the United States, according to the World Gold Council, an industry organization.

Last year, Chinese demand for gold rose 8 percent to more than 250 tons, the council's data showed.

Gold plays an important role in Chinese culture and is evident everywhere from temple decorations to the jewelry of newlyweds and the dental cavities of the rich.

Editor: Wing