With two new tourism sites nearly completed, Shanghai's Songjiang district - called the garden of the metropolis - will offer new attractions for visitors to the World Expo, which is set to continue until the end of the year.

Songjiang's 207-hectare Chenshan Botanic Garden will begin official operation at the end of this month, home to 9,000 species of plants in the near term and 30,000 over the long run.

Though Shanghai has 30,000 hectares of grassland and 90,000 hectares of forests, the city before had only a small botanic garden of 81 hectares to showcase limited biodiversity.

Trial operation of the new botanical garden began in April, with most of the facilities set to open to tourists this month. Its 21,000-sq-km greenhouse - the largest in the nation - will be open at the end of the year.

In addition to horticultural research, protecting biodiversity and introducing and breeding species, the garden will also be a site for study and relaxation.

It also has a special area for the blind equipped with Braille and voice activated guiding systems. Sightless visitors are allowed to touch all the plants in the area.

Other carefully thought out amenities include free umbrellas, prams, walking sticks and wheelchairs.

Another tourism development to be operational this year is a resort called Tianma Shimao New Experience inside the Sheshan Tourism Resort, one of the most renowned attractions in Songjiang.

Covering 42.8 hectares, it is a combination of theme park and rustic tour with restaurant and shopping facilities that have 550,000 sq m of interior floor space.

The park is also home to a five-star hotel under construction in a former quarry - said to be the lowest altitude hotel in the world.

Inside the theme park, extreme sports like cliff climbing, bungee jumping, and water sports are on offer along with movies and shopping.