(LI SHIGONG) 

While Shanghai's Disneyland has yet to open, the construction of Beijing's Universal Studios theme park will soon begin—both targeting young people. Yet Li Xiusong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said during this year's session of the top political advisory body in March that China needs to build up its own "Disneyland" in order to counter the strong impact of Western culture on the country's youth. He also expressed his worry that the next generation will become indifferent to Chinese culture if they are brought up under the influence of Western culture. He pointed out that the story of the Monkey King, a central character in the Journey to the West, a classic and legendary novel based on the pilgrimage of an eminent Tang Dynasty (618-907) monk to India, could be a better creative source for the creation of theme parks. Li's remarks triggered a debate on whether China should build up its own version of Disneyland and why China is not currently successful in this regard.

Some people believe that China's cultural industry has made significant progress in recent years, and that given its rich cultural endowment, the country doesn't need to import foreign cultural products. However, it's necessary for cultural innovation to keep up with the times and to compete with Western culture. Meanwhile, others argue that China's cultural industry has fallen too far behind that of the Western world, in terms of theory, method, technology, commercial operation concepts and more. Thus, learning from Western theme parks is necessary. There is also a general consensus in the debate that in the learning process, the most important thing is that it should not be simple replication but should also include innovation and adjustments according to local tastes.

Innovation matters 

Yang Chaoqing (www.qingdaonews.com): When the vitality of China's traditional culture is not fully utilized, foreign cultural products might work so well that they even begin to squeeze local cultural products out. In this case, if local culture wants to survive fierce competition, those in the cultural sector must learn to innovate.

Sometimes, localized foreign products become popular, but they are products of simple emulation, and even if they are popular within a period of time, their popularity is never sustained. Tourists gradually lose trust in products that are short on cultural sincerity and will ultimately turn to foreign products.

The popularity of Disneyland shows that ordinary people do have passion for cultural consumption, and the important thing is that their needs must be respected. For our own cultural products to be popular, there must be innovation based on our inheritance of our traditional culture, which is deeply rooted in China and which must also be revived in new forms.

Chen Weiche (Guangzhou Daily): The entertainment market in China is further stimulated by rapid economic development, and the enormous potential embedded in this market has attracted global entertainment giants like Disneyland. Meanwhile, local theme parks have begun to mushroom around the country. But compared with Disneyland, most of China's theme parks are lacking in competitiveness due to the absence of intellectual property rights for innovative entertainment products and related derivatives.

How to prepare local theme parks for the challenges posed by foreign theme parks will be a serious question facing many park operators in the coming years. An important factor behind Disneyland's worldwide success is that it possesses a lot of unique entertainment products of its own innovation. We know that a large number of figures in the park are from Disney cartoons, and these cartoon figures have thus become the core products of Disneyland. Typical examples like Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse have won numerous fans around the world.

Therefore, while building theme parks, domestic entertainment companies must also consider attracting fans to their parks by basing their parks on popular Chinese classics. As these books already claim many fans, the effective use of their characters and well-flushed-out "themes" would likely attract more visitors.

Take the Journey to the West for example. This ancient classic is composed of a large number of legends and fairy tales. If theme parks can create scenes described in the stories and make it possible for children to catch and subdue those demons and monsters in the sky or the sea, would those parks remain unattractive?

Zhou Renguo (Nanfang Daily): The arrival of Disneyland will undoubtedly pose serious challenges to China's own theme parks. We have to admit that Disneyland theme parks have already thrown many of China's so-called theme parks far behind, as the Chinese versions cannot compete on the basis of unique cartoon figures and relevant entertainment programs. Besides, Disneyland has a well-developed industrial chain and a fully formed brand.

In recent years, there have been more and more calls for the construction of theme parks featuring China's own traditional culture, so as to counter the invasion of foreign theme parks. Indeed, throughout the country, there are few that can really express the greatness, depth and richness of the time-honored traditional Chinese culture.

Why are there no commercial programs that can accommodate rich Chinese culture? Ironically, Chinese stories are sometimes made into excellent cultural products by foreign companies, such as the Disney cartoon Mulan. If we are unable to even explain our own stories successfully to our own audience, how can we inject traditional culture into tourism and export products? This, sadly, is the major reason why domestic theme parks are culturally pale in comparison.

The ancient novel, the Journey to the West has only resulted in an excellent TV series in the mid-1980s. Foshan in south China's Guangdong Province is the hometown of many masters of martial arts. There is a theme park there named after the late kungfu master Bruce Lee, but so far, the entertainment programs remain basic, featuring items like pirate ships and roller coasters.

The heritage of traditional Chinese culture has long been in the spotlight, but it takes time to develop successful theme parks based on it. When theme parks begin to be operated by market rules, the integration of traditional culture into these parks will no longer be a question.

Concerns justified 

Wang Pu (Finance.huanqiu.com): Beijing and Shanghai are respectively China's political and economic centers, neither of which are short of attractive scenic spots. Yet Beijing is to build a Universal Studios theme park and Shanghai's Disneyland will open soon. We cannot imagine what it will look like when people in China's two core cities are all talking about Mickey Mouse.

Has enough work been done domestically to dig into the rich Chinese culture available and share it with the rest of the world? In the face of this invasion of Western culture, are we confident enough to make sure our own culture survive and thrive amid outstanding Western cultural brands?

We need to learn from others' excellent cultural products, but it cannot be through simple replication. More importantly, it seems silly to give up our own ground and give way to foreign cultural brands.

Chao Bai (Nanfang Daily): When talking about his reservations about introducing Disneyland into China, Li said that it was mainly because Disneyland conveys Western culture, not local culture. By saying so, he was not really seeing Disneyland as a rival, but he feels that most cultural facilities in China have failed their visitors. He once suggested the construction of theme parks based on China's traditional culture, like the story of the Monkey King. He believes that these classic stories are the best materials available for the construction of theme parks with Chinese characteristics.

Disneyland's success is mostly attributed to the combination of cultural innovation and modern technology, which makes culture lively and vivid. Children are thus

attracted by these cultural figures, beginning their own exploration of them and trying to fulfill their curiosity in this process.

The question facing us Chinese is: Why can't we do the same? We have also created many cultural products tailored for children, but these products are not as interesting for adults, because they are not made to be so. Many of Disney's cartoons are simply not for young children. They are also capable of expressing depth through vivid forms.

For many years, when there was a new theme park erected somewhere, similar facilities would be replicated around the country. What has happened to them over the years? Many of them have since shut down—replication cannot be sustained. Actually, not just theme parks, but a lot of popular TV programs are also copied from other countries. In this way, the audience can only passively accept others' culture, while we are left unable to export ours.

Given people's craze for Disneyland, Li's worry is not totally groundless.

Copyedited by Mara Lee Durrell 

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