THE replica of the 18th century Swedish merchant ship Gotheborg bid farewell to Shanghai on Saturday after berthing in the city for two months.

The ship received about 83,000 visitors since it arrived there Aug. 29, and more tourists came to the dock to visit an exhibition showcasing maritime culture and the historical ties between China and Sweden.

The ship will visit Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang Province, after leaving Shanghai. The planned two-week stay in Zhoushan will bring its China tour to an end and it is expected to return to Sweden next August with a journey of about 68,507 kilometers.

The legendary Gotheborg made three voyages from Gothenburg, Sweden, to Guangzhou between 1743 and 1745, pioneering trade between Sweden and China.

On its last trip back to Sweden in 1745, it smashed into rocks about 900 meters from its destination after a 30-month voyage to China. It sank with a full load of cargo, including tea, china and silk, outside the port of Gothenburg.

Its wreckage was recovered in 1984 and excavation was conducted from 1986 to 1992. The discovery led to the idea of rebuilding a replica of the ship using the same traditional techniques and materials and sailing it to China again.

The replica, Gotheborg III, is 58.8 meters long and 11 meters wide. It cost US$30 million and 10 years of work by more than 4,000 people.

Its voyage to China took about nine and a half months since October last year.

Before Shanghai, it visited Guangzhou in July and stayed there for a month, attracting at least 2.5 million visitors.

(Xinhua)