Gorgeous luxury liners being built

BEIJING - Ten luxury cruise ships are being built to cater to Chinese tourists' growing taste for pleasure voyages along the picturesque Three Gorges on the Yangtze River.

The Three Gorges Company, an affiliate of the Chongqing Traffic and Tourist Investment Group, announced on Monday that it is investing 2 billion yuan ($290 million) over the next two years to build 20 ships, including 10 inland luxury liners, Chongqing Evening News reported on Tuesday.

The new fleet apparently supports the Chongqing municipal government's Sun Project, which aims to build 20 five-star cruise ships by 2012 to help the gorges become the most desirable, high-end sightseeing spot among domestic inland waterways.