Summer's best bet: Get wet!

There is no better way to cool off on a hot summer day than with a plunge down a water slide. The Playa Maya Water Park, which opened on July 5 in Shanghai, has some of the world's top aquatic amusement facilities to create a cool fun oasis for visitors.

Located in the scenic Sheshan National Tourist Resort on the city's west side, the largest open-air water park in East China at about 120,000 square meters has nearly 40 aquatic amusement facilities.

The biggest star is the Caribbean Beach - a nearly 20,000-sq-m pool that produces waves as high as 3.5 meters, said to be the world's highest man-made waves.

The Big Octopus Slide, with eight rainbow-colored water slides stretching down from a 17.6-meter-tall tower, is sure to make you scream when you dash down to the pool with a high speed.

The Bumble Bee, a double-track roller coaster, swoops visitors above water four times. At the Giant Beast Bowl, you will swirl in water and slide for 123 meters before arriving at the bottom of the bowl.

Most of these exciting facilities are only suitable for visitors taller than 1.3 meter and weigh no more than 90 kilograms.

The park says its water sanitation system recycles and sanitizes about 21,000 cubic meters of water every four to six hours.

In addition, the park will offer cultural performances with special stage technology, such as a laser water curtain and wave making.

The park will be open until mid-September every year, says Xu Fei, a member of the administrative staff at Shanghai OCT Co Ltd, which built the 4-billion-yuan ($652 million) Happy Valley.

There are seven water parks operating in the city's suburbs. "But the newly built water park will have advantages to challenge them," Xu says.

Playa Maya, the sister park of Shanghai Happy Valley, costs more than 400 million yuan to build. The ticket price for the water park is 150 yuan on weekdays and 180 yuan on weekends. Visitors can get a package deal for both parks: 300 yuan for working days and 330 yuan for weekends.

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