On August 17, 1983, the MS Minghua cruise ship arrived in Shekou, Shenzhen to be refitted as a tourist attraction and part of the entertainment complex Sea World.
Her new features include 253 hotel rooms, Chinese and Western restaurants, an English Bar, Bamboo Grove Bar, Music Dance Hall, swimming pool, health center, children's recreation center and the China Folk Customs Exhibition Center.
Even though the ship was considered a building after it became part Sea World, she was not removed from the Lloyd's Register until 1991.
Due to the construction of a large golf course beside Sea World, the area around her berth was reclaimed from the sea and she became landlocked. The ship closed in 1998 due to management problem after a fire. Throughout her time being closed the exterior of Sea World was kept well maintained, but her interiors were badly neglected.
In 2001 a major 70 million Yuan refurbishment of the ship began and was completed in 2004. The ship now hosts a four-star hotel, Brazilian barbecue restaurant, numerous Western restaurants, a wine bar and cigar house, a coffee shop, boutique, and movie theater.