The Shijingshan Amusement Park unveiled an ambitious plan to become the nation's largest outdoor recreation complex through expansion on Thursday.

"The theme park will merge with Laoshan Outskirt Park, Bajiao Park and the stadium used for the 2008 Olympic cycling competition, all of which are located nearby," Liu Jingwang, the park's general manager, told Beijing Youth Daily on Wednesday.

The park is located in Shijingshan district, west of downtown Beijing.

At the same time, a brand-new indoor theme park, called Fantasy Wonderland, which will cover

an area of 100,000 sq m, will be built on the site, containing both dining and entertainment facilities.

The stadium for the cycling competition during the Olympics will be converted into a venue for circus performances.

And an aquatic park and large performance area will be built on the sites of Bajiao and Laoshan outskirt parks.

Liu said the park will build monorail trains to connect the different locations, but he refused to say how much money the project will cost.

The Shijingshan Amusement Park, which opened in September 1986, was one of Beijing's first three outdoor entertainment parks.

Featuring a castle that resembles Disney's trademark Sleeping Beauty Castle, the park once used the slogan: "It is too far to Disneyland, so come have fun here."

But the slogan and similarities to Disneyland (costumed characters roaming the park bore a remarkable resemblance to Disney characters) reportedly brought legal trouble.

The amusement park complex will help serve the local government's campaign of building Shijingshan district into a Central Recreational District in the capital.

Just as the eastern part of downtown Beijing has built a reputation as the Central Business District, Shijingshan hopes to become the capital's entertainment center after the heavy-polluting Capital Steel Corp moves out of the district in 2010.

The expansion project will be launched within the year and should be completed in under five years, said Liu.