World’s largest radio telescope attracted nearly 300 thousand tourists to one of China’s poor districts

Almaty. September 8. Silkroadnews – The world’s largest radio telescope has attracted nearly 300,000 tourists to one of China’s poor districts, China Daily reported.
“Since it began operation in September last year, the world's largest radio telescope, located in southwestern province of Guizhou, has received 240,000 tourists, according to local authorities”, the report said.
It is noted that 2,000 visitors are allowed to visit the area of the telescope every day, the rest of the tourists are redirected to other picturesque places.
According to the director of the county tourism bureau Shi Bangze, an astronomical and cultural park is being extended within the area of telescope location. New theaters and exhibition centers will open ahead of the National Day holiday in October, he said.
It is noted that since the telescope is used to probe space for the faintest signs of life and is sensitive to any electromagnetic interference, almost 10,000 residents living within a radius of five kilometers from the telescope have been relocated. All phones and digital equipment are prohibited to use within the area and the sightseeing vehicles entering the core zone have been modified to remove magnetic interference.
The five-hundred-meter aperture spherical radio telescope (FAST) is a single-dish telescope with a diameter of half a kilometer. It was built in Dawodang depression, a natural karst basin in Pingtang County, an impoverished area in mountainous Guizhou. Total investment in the creation of the telescope amounted to 1.2 billion yuan (about $188 million).