Piano Land is a cruise ship whose Chinese is the same as Gulangyu Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It docked in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Sept 22. [Photo/VCG]

Piano Land, a cruise ship whose Chinese name is the same as Gulangyu Island -- a UNESCO World Heritage site -- docked in Xiamen on Sept 22. 

The 70,000-ton luxury ship, with a capacity of 1,880 passengers, has Xiamen as its home port and will set sail on its maiden trip from the eastern Chinese coastal city on Sept 30. 

Officials said the four-day/ three-night round trip, heading for Hong Kong, will provide passengers with considerate services and mouthwatering delicacies. The relaxed climate aboard will also serve a pleasant journey for passengers, they added. 

Though facing some downward pressure currently, in the meantime Xiamen's cruise industry has enjoyed the high life -- having hosted 79 international liners and 241,800 passengers from January to August, with year-on-year growth of 33.9 and 25.69 percent, respectively. 

Wu Shunbin, head of the Xiamen Port authority, said Xiamen is endowed by nature for standing at the pivotal point of the Taiwan Straits -- and it played host to  passenger liners connecting the Northeast and Southeast Asian areas. 

"Xiamen is reforming and also active in developing local cruise enterprises, so as to realize the goal of being the third largest port in China and serving over 1.2 million annually by 2035," Wu said. 

The cruise liner was jointly established by the China National Travel Service Group Corp and China COSCO Shipping Corp Ltd. Its full name is Astro Ocean Piano Land. 

It is expected to operate eight voyages in 2019, including several popular routes along the Maritime Silk Road. 

Tips:

Line name: Astro Ocean Piano Land

Route: Xiamen - Hong Kong - Xiamen (four days and three nights)

Departure time: Sept 30

Price: 3,299 yuan per person and above

Tel: +86-592-5591598/5591296