Theme parks rise to cultural challenge

A dancer performs at a district in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, themed on the Chinese novel The Longest Day in Chang'an.ZOU JINGYI/XINHUA Millions welcomed Western influence is clearly evident in the theme park world, as Shanghai Disneyland attracts nearly 1 million more visitors annually than China's most popular non-Western theme park, Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, a marine-life venue in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, according to data from 2022-22 collected by a report. The only theme park in China to rival Shanghai Disneyland in terms of attendance is Universal Beijing Resort, which opened in 2021 to an overwhelming response despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 30,000 people flocking to the venue on its opening day. Zhang said, "One big problem in building traditional Chinese theme parks is that they are based on adaptions of well-known literary works, which may not be able to support the core story needed to establish such a park." If a park is based on secondary interpretations of well-known IPs, it lacks a core story to build its theme, and I think this is why it is difficult to develop theme parks based on traditional Chinese iconography represented by Journey to the West," Zhang added.