Mickey Mouse entertains the crowd at Shanghai Disneyworld (FRANCISCO LITTLE) 

You know you're in a fun palace when the subway elevator walls are decorated with plastic cutouts of cartoon characters loved the world over. There is also something electric in the energy of a crowd that rushes in childlike wonder to the entrance of expectation.

When you step through the gates, that expectation wraps its arms around you and whispers, "Let go of your inhibitions and come with me."

Shanghai Disneyland exploded onto the Chinese mainland entertainment scene in June and from the endless queues I encountered in November, that initial attraction is not likely to die down any time soon.

It's a sprawling, $5.5-billion eclectic merry-go-round of entertainment covering 3.9 square km of the city's Pudong area. Perfectly manicured lawns and hedges, a supersonic sound system and food, glorious food, live comfortably alongside a bevy of fictional characters and scenes from the past, present and future.

And wherever you walk, the majestic storybook castle looms over the park, reminding you that there is magic here. It's reportedly the largest and tallest of all the castles built by Disney to date.

But this is China and the subtle blends of Disney and Chinese culture have been effected in creative ways. There's the Wandering Moon Teahouse, local architecture, and a mosaic featuring the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac using images of Disney characters. And along with the traditional Disney favorites of turkey legs, corn dogs and popcorn, sink your teeth into a Mickey Mouse-shaped Peking duck pizza.

Tastes aside, while politicians may see Shanghai Disneyland as a historical symbol of China-U.S. relations, for millions of ordinary Chinese it's just a place to let your hair down.

All the usual suspects are on hand to thrill even the most hardened hearts. The elegantly decorous Cinderella and Snow White, seven bumbling Dwarves, thunderous Marvel Comics heroes, Pluto, Goofy and the ever flirtatious Minnie Mouse operate in a conveyor belt of sensory seduction.

But despite all these timeless luminaries, you are left in no doubt about who rules the Disney roost. Mickey Mouse is in the house. His face is everywhere, from an endless range of clothing to balloons and candy. A quick scan of the throngs showed every second child wearing, eating, or carrying something adorned with the famous black round ears and cheeky smile. This mouse is a license to print money and as in the rest of the world, Chinese visitors are digging deep into their wallets to spend on memorabilia.

On the day I visited, Mickey was entertaining his fans on the aptly named Mickey Avenue. Along with his jazz band he was putting on some impressive dance moves and had the crowd eating out of his hand.

Watching the faces of park visitors catching sight of these larger-than-life cartoon characters that have for so long featured in some part of their lives is in itself worth the steep price of admission. In the excitement of parents pointing out all the attractions to their kids, they themselves become kids for the day. It's an opportunity to de-stress and forget about the "real" world outside.

I'm an unashamed Disney fan and having visited the other five Disney Worlds in Los Angeles, Orlando, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong, it's clear that the formula works universally. Each park adds elements of local culture and tastes to make it more familiar to the target audience, but the core engine that drives the well-oiled machine remains untouched. It has to. Disney does, after all, describe its parks as the happiest places in the world.

I wonder if the visionary Walt Disney could have predicted all those years ago that his animated view of the world would have found so much attraction on the Chinese mainland.

Long after the music to Lion King has stopped reverberating in your ears and Captain Jack Sparrow's ghost has floated back to the Black Pearl, the memory of this place lingers on.

Back trudging the grey streets of Beijing on a smoggy, cold winter's day, I pictured a castle, ubiquitous round black ears and a kaleidoscope of laughter. The rat race was made more bearable by a mouse and his friends. I was in my happy place.

The author is a South African living in Beijing

Copyedited by Dominic James Madar

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