Tourism ambitions bring development to Pudong
Print Edition
Shi Fengfang, a retired weaver and lifelong resident of Chuansha, Pudong New Area, works as a cleaner at the headquarters of the Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone.
The 60-year-old Shi cleans windows at office-building No.8 of the zone’s headquarters between 7am and 5pm every day. Through these windows, she can see the former site of Xuqiao, the village where she was born.
Today the village is a memory, while the land it occupied is now part of the Shanghai Disney Resort, the centerpiece of the area’s new tourism zone.
Shi is among thousands of villagers who were relocated to make way for the development of tourism projects in Chuansha. Many, including Shi, left the farmlands where they were born and moved to modern residential buildings with supermarkets, wet markets, schools and hospitals built nearby.
“We have been hoping for decades that Disney could be built in our village,” Shi said. “The project was the only chance for this remote area to be developed.”
With the first Disney resort on the China’s mainland at its core, the 20-square-kilometer zone is meant to foster an “important tourism and recreational destination, as well as a base for the services sector,” according to statements from its administrative committee.
“Its focus is on developing various industries like themed entertainment, tourism, leisure, culture, innovation, conferences, exhibitions, retailing, sports as well as recreation,” said Sun Caiguo, director of the committee’s planning and construction department.
The zone is ideally situated for easy access and future development. It is located about 21 kilometers from People’s Square in downtown Shanghai, 18 kilometers from the Lujiazui financial center and 12 kilometers from Pudong International Airport.
Sun described the zone, together with the Hongqiao Business District and the post-Expo development zone, as key areas for the future development of Shanghai.
The Shanghai Disney Resort is scheduled to open in the spring of 2016, bringing with it a host of new entertainment, hospitality, retail and dining facilities.
With roughly 24.5 billion yuan (US$3.85 billion) in total investment, the new Disney resort is one of the largest service-sector projects ever undertaken in China. Municipal authorities see the project as a key driver of both local and regional growth.
“Shanghai Disneyland will have a significant impact on the economic and social development of the Yangtze River Delta region, optimizing tourism layouts in the area, improving the capacity of the modern service industry and facilitating development of the Yangtze River Delta region into a world-class urban agglomerate with strong global competitiveness,” according to official statements.
Aside from the Disney resort, the zone will also play host to a constellation of shopping, entertainment and business projects.
Specifically, the historic Hengmian Town in the zone’s west will be developed into an attraction similar to the Zhouzhuang and Tongli water towns in neighboring Jiangsu Province. Near Hengmian, authorities also have plans for a complex where couples can stage wedding photos or hold nuptial ceremonies.
Planners expect the zone to be completed by 2030. By that point, visitors will be able to reach the area via two Metro lines, say authorities.
But with so much to look forward to, Shi said she still cherishes her memories of playing in the fields and swimming in the rivers near her old home.
“My only hope now is that we would be allowed to enter the resort after it is completed to have a look at the changes,” she said.
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