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Lana Lam

If your favourite karaoke song is a bit tired, now you can try the "abridged" version.
In a bid to capture the lucrative Chinese tourist dollar, BridgeClimb - the company that organises climbs to the summit of Australia's iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge - has introduced a new attraction that will let visitors' voices soar 134 metres above the harbour.

Dubbed the "Karaoke Climb", it lets Putonghua-speaking tourists who brave the vertigo-inducing ascent celebrate at the top of the bridge by belting out one of five popular Putonghua songs.
The climb will only be available for 12 days from February 16 to 28 to celebrate the Lunar New Year on February 19.
It is one of the latest attempts by overseas tourist attractions to appeal to the high volume of big-spending mainland Chinese travellers.
BridgeClimb previously introduced a "Mandarin Climb" for Putonghua-speakers at the beginning of 2013, which attracted more than 10,000 mainland tourists aged from 10 to 80 years old.
Since BridgeClimb started in 1998, about 20,000 climbers from Hong Kong have made their way to the summit.
"The majority of our climbers [from mainland China] are coming from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou," said Phillip Shumack, marketing operations manager for BridgeClimb.
"And we have increasing numbers from Chengdu and other tier-two cities as air capacity increases from such areas direct into Sydney."
The Mandarin Climb features a Putonghua-speaking guide and commentary tailored to mainland Chinese tourists.
"With the growth in China and the projected growth, we felt it was important to create a customised experience for Chinese visitors to enable them to share in this iconic Australian experience," Shumack said.

In recent years, other Chinese-themed events at the top of the bridge have included a traditional Chinese lion dance, a 15-metre Chinese dragon dance and a mahjong championship.
"This Chinese New Year we wanted to continue this trend and we thought what better way to celebrate than by creating a product that played on Chinese people's love of karaoke and give them the opportunity to do this on top of one of the world's most recognisable icons", Shumack said.
For the same price as a normal climb, people will be able to sing one of five popular karaoke songs.
The songs - Friends; The Moon Represents My Heart; S.H.E.; Congratulation, Congratulation to You and Courage  - were chosen through an online competition by BridgeClimb's weibo followers.
Climbers reach a stage decked out with plasma TV screens, a disco ball, microphones and concert-style speakers.


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Putonghua-speaking climbers at the top of Sydney Harbour Bridge belt out their favourite Mandarin karaoke songs. Photo: SCMP

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Asia

Australian tour operator offers 134-metre-high stage to attract Putonghua-speaking vocalists


In a bid to capture the lucrative Chinese tourist dollar, BridgeClimb has introduced a new attraction that will let visitors' voices soar 134 metres above the harbour.


Karaoke's new heights: Chinese tourists can climb Sydney's 134m Harbour Bridge to sing Mandarin hits

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Australian tour operator offers 134-metre-high stage to attract Putonghua-speaking vocalists

Australian tour operator offers 134-metre-high stage to attract Putonghua-speaking vocalists