Since opening in 2001, the Eden Project has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the UK. Its stunning rainforest biome is evidence of how things can be turned around on environmentally damaged land. 

Now the ecological scheme is working to spread its message across the globe and its first overseas undertaking is taking shape in Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province.

Built on the site of a former clay pit, the Eden Project’s giant biomes house the world's largest indoor rainforest, in Cornwall in southwest England. It transformed an industrial wasteland into a paradise of brightly colored flowers and exotic tropical trees. 

The project has attracted more than 19 million visitors and generated 1.7 billion pounds (around 2.2 billion US dollars) for the economy of the area.

The first big overseas venture in the coastal city of Qingdao will be built on a large area of environmentally damaged land located at the confluence of two rivers where the soil is very salty and high in nitrates.

"It is factory land that needs regeneration," said David Harland, chief executive of Eden Project International. “Traditionally, it had prawn-breeding, it was a salt pan. It is an incredible site. It is on a peninsular.

"We imagine it a bit like the Sydney Opera House site was at Sydney before the Opera House was built. What you will see there will be a large biome. It will tell the story of water more than plants, and there will be a number of supporting pavilions on that site."

After two years' of preparation, construction is expected to begin in 2018 and it is projected to open to visitors at the end of 2020. But the design of Eden China will be very different from its original in England.

"We are also very conscious that we don’t know everything," said Augusta Grand, head of policy at Eden Project. “People’s problems and difficulties are very locally based. So the best people to fix the problem are the people who live there. So this is why we have a partnership model. It is not we are going to China and plunking a project there.. It will be built with local people there, using local scientists, local knowledge, and local understanding."

The Qingdao project is one of three planned Eden centers in China. The second will restore a degraded valley in the historic city of Yan’an, famed for being the end of Chairman Mao’s Long March. And the third one will be based at a Beijing vineyard that was formerly a rubbish dump.   

"I think China has taken huge step forward around its environmental agenda over the last five to 10 years," Harland said.

Besides China, Eden is also working in Australia and New Zealand, hoping to create a network of projects that can share the best of different elements.

Harland continued, "I think China is there at the front. President Xi has been talking about the environment a lot recently. And Eden is lucky enough that we line up with some of those messages. We do want to talk about water, we do want to talk about air quality, we do want to talk about food security and food safety. But that is in line with what has been spoken about in China as well, so that is a good coming-together."