The Lotus Exhibition Center is an icon for the city of Wujin. Conceived as an addition to an existing underground building with a lake top, the center is a sculptural and ethereal lotus flower displaying the three stages of the lotus bloom life.

China has sent its first woman into space on a mission to dock with an orbiting station, the latest step in an ambitious programme to go to the moon and on to Mars.

Photo: China's first female astronaut Liu Yang, waves during a sending off ceremony before she departs for the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft rocket launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, China, Saturday, June 16, 2012. China will send its first woman and two other astronauts into space Saturday to work on a temporary space station for about a week, in a key step toward becoming only the third nation to set up a permanent base in orbit. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Workers demonstrate outside the factory of Hua Yang Printing Holdings Co Ltd on October 30, 2007 in Shenzhen of Guangdong Province, China. Over 1,000 workers of the company have blocked the 107 State Highway where the firm is located, to protest against their employer, who owed half a month's salary to the workers. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

People play Taiji on a square on August 08, 2011 in Luoyang, Henan Province of China. People all over China mark National Fitness Day on Monday in their own ways. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

A model falls over on the runway during the SECCRY Hu Sheguang Collection 2014 Show during Mercedes-Benz China Fashion Week, March 30, 2014, in Beijing. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

A Chinese shopper sleeps on a bed in the showroom of the IKEA store on July 6, 2014 in Beijing, China. Of the world's ten biggest Ikea stores, 8 of them are in China to cater to the country's growing middle class. The stores are designed with extra room displays given the tendency for customers to make a visit an all-day affair. Store management does not discourage shoppers from sleeping on Ikea furniture, even marking them with signs inviting customers to try them out. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A performer plays the role of the Emperor during a re-enactment of an ancient ceremony of Qing Dynasty Emperors praying at Ritan Park which holds the ceremony of 'fete day'' to mark the first day of spring on March 21st, 2011 in Beijing, China. March 21st is the Day of Vernal Equinox according to the Chinese lunar calender. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

In this photo taken Wednesday, March 8, 2017, a hospitality staff member pose for photos near the shadow of a tall light pole near the Great Hall of the People where a plenary session of the National People's Congress is held in Beijing, China. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)