The story appears on

Page A15

May 31, 2011

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

HomeBusinessConsumer

'Monkey Kingdom' park goes to Beijing

PROPERTY developer Zhonghong Real Estate Co plans to spend 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) building a "monkey kingdom" theme park in Beijing based on the 400-year-old Chinese novel "Journey to the West."

The developer has hired Thinkwell Group to design the project, which will also include conference centers, hotels, residential and retail developments in addition to the theme park, covering a total area of 300 hectares, according to an e-mailed statement from the design company yesterday. The park is scheduled to open in 2014, it said.

Growing wealth in the world's second-biggest economy is fueling increases in spending by Chinese consumers on entertainment. Walt Disney Co plans to construct a US$4.4 billion theme park in Shanghai, its first on the Chinese mainland.

Zhonghong's project will provide Beijing with a "Disney-quality park that tells the stories important to China," Wang Yonghong, chairman of the Chinese developer, said in the statement.

"Journey to the West," first published in the 16th century, tells the story of a Chinese monk who travels to India to retrieve Buddhist scriptures.

He is accompanied by a group of three mythical characters with supernatural powers, the leader of whom is a monkey. Zhonghong's park is inspired by the monkey character known as Sun Wukong.

The Beijing-based developer suspended trading of its stock in Shenzhen yesterday on unidentified media reports that it said may affect the company's share price, according to a statement issued to the city's stock exchange.

Zhonghong's shares have declined more than 32 percent this year.


 

Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

娌叕缃戝畨澶 31010602000204鍙

Email this to your friend