Results tagged “disneyland”

Yeah, it's sad but true: in order to build Disneyland Shanghai, a lot of villagers in Chuangsha will have to be forcibly relocated in order to free up space for the 4.12 square kilometer theme park. Like usual, the government has promised to provide those relocated with monetary compensation, but hasn't revealed exactly how much they'll give out. As a result, farmers have begun to erect new buildings overnight to try to drive up the value of their land. One part entrepreneurial, one part sad: but with the government notoriously bad at providing displaced people with fair settlements, who can blame them?

Woah Mickey, now that Shanghai Disneyland finally seems to have gotten all its papers in order, it seems like everyone can’t stop gabbering on about it (for instance, has anyone else noticed that Shanghai Daily has kind of turned into Shanghai Disneyland Daily today). Except, we suppose, us. Hey, give us a break, we’ve been covering this roller coaster ride of a deal for so long that it being greenlighted has actually left us a little flabbergasted. And so, since we’re at a loss for words, we’ll let other people talk about what they think about the soon-to-be erected (well, at least by 2014) Sleeping Beauty castle in Pudong.

After years of back and forth, it looks like Shanghai Disneyland has been given the go-ahead. According to news sources, the Shanghai Municipal Government Informatin offices announced the deal's approval early this morning. While details still have to be worked out between the mouse and the ministries, it seems like a pretty set deal.

With the recent news about Beijing giving Disneyland Shanghai the go ahead, it looks like it's only a matter of time before the mouse lands in town. After a recent meeting of the City's International Business Leaders Advisory Council, Mayor Han Zheng declared that a decision could be announced as early as next week. But between the lines, we all know that's code for unequivocal approval, right? After all, it's not like the Shanghai government would announce a greenlight on Disneyland and then snatch it away last minute. Oh wait.

If you were President Obama, what's the best possible news you could hear from Hu Jintao during your upcoming visit in November? That the Chinese military will agree to keep their agreement to work more closely with the US military? That recent threats to potentially raise tariffs on US automakers were just a big joke? Or were you thinking something perhaps...a bit more...magical?

• Shanghai is going to be the next stop for A Nice Set, a traveling exhibition of customized slipmats designed by leading artsts from around the world. The exhibition will open at 7:30pm on September 12 at SOURCE. [Neocha Edge]
• The Wall Street Journal has a great piece on Zhaohang village, which contains land that would've been razed to build Shanghai Disneyland. As is the way in China, many villagers didn't get the compensation they were hoping for. [WSJ]
• Bad news for all those trying to make a quick buck on their foreign faces, apparently Shanghai is cracking down on foreign people modeling firms. [Shanghai Daily]

Seemingly apropos of nothing, Li Bincheng, a leading tourism official in Shanghai, told people that China can sustain three Disney theme parks if it wanted to. "China has a population of 1.4 billion or 1.5 billion. It will not be a problem even if there are three Disneylands here," he said in response to a question about competition between Hong Kong Disneyland and the on again-off again Shanghai park. He then went on to add that if the Shanghai park ever actually came to be, it'd probably be ten times larger than its Hong Kong counterpart. But no worries, because Guangdong and Guangxi residents will probably still go to the much much smaller Hong Kong Disneyland since they live closer. Hmmm, that sure is a lot of talk for something that hasn't even won approval from the higher ups in Beijing yet. Source: SCMP

With all that whining and wheezing earlier this year, you would've thought we'd reached a resolution by now. But even though Disney is pulling resources out of Hong Kong, it still hasn't committed fully to putting them into Shanghai - and it's hard to tell who's fault it is.

According to China Daily, the Walt Disney Company and Shanghai's municipal government have finally signed a project proposal to build a Disneyland theme park on the Chinese mainland. Assuming the newspaper hasn't jumped the gun, this would put a stopper on the will they won't they drama that's shadowed the deal since it was a glint in Mickey Mouse's eye.

• China says AIDS sufferers led attack on Belgian TV crew [China Media Project]
• The Chinese government is now offering a 13% subsidy to farmers in rural areas for the purchase of basic household appliances like washing machines, cell phones, color TVs, and refrigerators. Will the plan work? [WSJ China Journal]
• Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou spoke directly to a mainland Chinese audience for the first time since he took office yesterday. Live broadcast in Chinese here.

"Up to 5 percent of homosexuals in the city were infected, compared with 0.5 percent of women sex workers, said He Xiong, the Beijing Centers of Diseases Control and Prevention deputy director."

And so the “will-it-ever-be-built” Shanghai Disneyland saga continues, tediously dragging as long as Celine Dion's love for you.

We know — the on-again-off-again Disney Shanghai deal is getting kinda bawwwrrrriiiing — but latest news has it that the deal could include a major media component that would leave other media companies salivating and give Disney unrivalled access to the highly sought-after Chinese market:

The joint venture agreement would give Disney a huge advantage over U.S. media rivals by allowing it to bypass foreign film import quotas and summer and holiday blackout periods, as well as television censorship, both imposed by the central government.

Continue reading "Disney Shanghai to include media deal?"

Both the Shanghai government and Walt Disney Co have now denied media reports confirming the arrival of Disneyland in Shanghai by 2012. According to municipal spokesperson Chen Qiwei, "The project still needs central government approval and Shanghai will obey Beijing's decision." And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we're back at square one, so brace yourselves for the next round of ding-donging. Looks like "done deals" on Xinhua and Shanghai Daily are not what they seem. [Source]

Chinese tourists will no longer need to make their way to Hong Kong for a touch of Disney because a bigger, better Disney is coming to Shanghai in 2012. Located in Pudong's Chuansha Town (or 20 minutes from Pudong Airport), Shanghai Disney will cover 10 square kilometers — eight times the size of Hong Kong Disney. [Source]

In the Murinae subfamily of the Rodentia order, there are whole heaps of squeekers that in English we name either (Harvest / grass / stink) mice or (water / whistling / bush) rats with no real logic. The Chinese on the other hand just say screw it; let's call them all 鼠 and see what they taste like.