Resembling a gigantic flying seagull, the Qingdao North Railway Station opened in January is the largest transportation hub in Shandong province.

During the seven-day National Day holiday the station saw some 90,000 travelers come in and out of Qingdao.

It is estimated that the station will receive 9.25 million passengers each year, a figure that could rise to 18 million by 2020.

The station is 3 kilometers away from Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, the longest sea bridge in the world, which connects downtown Qingdao to the city's west coast new area and is 16 km from airport and connects nine railways.

It takes one to two hours to get to cities across the Shandong Peninsula by high-speed train from Qingdao.

Shandong's high hopes for new city rail station Travel time from the city to Shanghai has been cut to four hours from the previous seven and the station is a connecting hub to major metropolitan areas in the Yangtze River and Pearl River deltas as well as industrial bases in Northeast China.

In the near future, the station will also connect a further four high-speed railways that link to Weihai, Jinan and Dalian in Liaoning province.

A 36-sq-km area around the station is being transformed into Qingdao Traffic Business District, in a bid to revamp the original industrial hub into a service oriented new urban center.

The high volume of passengers means the station area has enormous potential for business and urban development, said Liu Yungang, director at the development office of the district.

"We will speed up efforts to develop the infrastructure including the road network, as well as environmental protection projects in the mountains, rivers and sea, so that business will thrive and our citizens can enjoy a livable environment," Liu said.

The station also boasts a recreational platform for residents and tourists with a large business complex with a partially underground square and shopping center.

The complex provides open space for people to leave the train station and is also supposed to be a symbol of urban culture.

Shopping malls, hotels, and office buildings are expected to flourish around the area given the huge traffic flux.

By Hu Qing ( chinadaily.com.cn )