With a mind-boggling investment of 20 billion yuan ($3.13 billion), the City Crossing complex located in the heart of Qingdao is scheduled for completion by the end of August.

Right next to the city hall, with two subway line stops in the pipeline and an ever-expanding vista of skyscrapers surrounding it, China Resources bought the plot on Shandong Road in 2009 for 6.7 billion yuan, the highest land auction price in Qingdao at the time.

City Crossing includes the China Resources Building - an automated office building - a shopping mall, serviced apartments and a luxury residential building.

The office building boasts an unparalleled geographic location as the area around city hall along the 5-kilometer-long Xianggangzhong Road has long been red hot. Seventy percent of high-end office buildings, 80 percent of financial institutions and 75 percent of the city's government agencies are situated in the area.

The 200-meter-high building has 12 high-speed elevators and 6,000 parking spaces to ensure smooth traffic within the building.

With low-e glass walls, which help stop heat loss; a French-style new classical garden and a smart property management system, the center's high-end residential building is targeting high-flyers in the city. Each of the homes has space ranging from 110 to 240 square meters.

The serviced apartment complex welcomes residents who enjoy a carefree living experience. The rooms range from 50 to 90 sq m and have been decorated in a classic style. Residents will be able to move in to a five-star hotel lifestyle immediately after purchase.

Integrated into the City Crossing complex, the Mixc Shopping Mall, the highlight development of the project, sprawls across 450,000 sq m, boasting seven levels and three basement floors.

Even before the mall opened on April 30, it had already become an Internet sensation and an estimated 600,000 visits were recorded in the first four days after opening, with revenue earnings of more than 50 million yuan.

Apart from myriads of retail stores and restaurants, the mall, which is the largest mixed-use development in Qingdao, includes a roof garden, an Olympic-sized ice skating rink that will host Skate Asia 2015, a Sega-run indoor amusement park, a children's area and the only swimming pool in Qingdao using ozone disinfecting.

It also houses a cinema with the most complete variety of special effects rooms in Qingdao, including Imax, 4DX and Spherex.

Many of the nearly 500 brands in the mall, such as Abercrombie & Fitch, are new to locals or even northern China.

As the largest of more than 10 Mixc malls operated by China Resources, its average daily customer flow is over 100,000. Due to the high traffic flow, the 1,600 spaces in the mall's parking lot have a smart vehicle tracking system installed to guide drivers to their cars.

huqing@chinadaily.com.cn