A riverfront green area along the North Bund opened to the public yesterday, providing one more scenic spot for locals to enjoy the waterfront view.

The green space, covering 60,000 square meters, is just opposite the Lujiazui area across the Huangpu River. It surrounds lots of office buildings, including the landmark Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal, popularly referred to as "a drop of water."

The space includes an unusual building called "musical gate" with three colorful spheres. It will be open to the public for catering and sightseeing.

The management has set up security guards to prevent pedestrians from making too much noise, which might disturb nearby office workers.

The green area is open to the public starting at 6am. But it will close at 10pm because the management worries that night visitors might disturb the dock transportation inside.

Construction of a 400-meter-long underground shopping street in the area has been finished and soon will open to the public.

The green area also will have restaurants, bars and stores that are expected to open by the end of this year.

"The public green space will boost the commercial development of the North Bund area," said Huang Haidong, director of the terminal, which is responsible for the construction of the green area.

Added to the original waterfront green space linking to the Bund, the green area on the North Bund is now going to stretch a total of 1 kilometer along the Huangpu River.

Another 1-kilometer-long waterfront area in the North Bund area will be open to the public in two years. A water element will be included in the new area and yacht docks will be built inside, officials said yesterday.

The size of the commercial facilities in the North Bund area is expected to be close to that of the Xujiahui business area.