Beijing can bear-ly believe it: Chinese firm spending US$8-million on British-themed teddy bear park near capital
A Chinese company is investing 50 million yuan (US$7.8 million) to build an amusement park in Beijing that will feature British-themed teddy bears.
The 400-hectare park, which will have a teddy bear themed museum at its centre, will be built in Daxing district, about 30km from central Beijing, The Great British Teddy Bear Company and its partner Tenio Architectural Design said on Thursday.
Parts of the park will open to the public next May, when the International Heritage Rose Conference is held in the district, while the museum is scheduled to open by the end of next year.
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The teddy bear park is part of Tenio’s 200-million-yuan programme to create a town of roses in the Weishanzhuang area of the district, according to Song Lingtao, Tenio’s CEO.
With 250,000 visitors expected annually, the teddy bear park will be aimed at “families of all generations to interact, create memories and have a British experience”, said Paul Jessup, founder of The Great British Teddy Bear Company.
The company designs and manufactures teddy bears with British themes, ranging from tourist attractions to high-profile British figures such as Sherlock Holmes, Prince William and former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Jessup said the teddy bear park would include a “Beefeater bear” food court serving British food such as fish and chips and a “Shakespeare theatre” featuring shows by large teddy bear characters.
Britain has long been a popular destination for Chinese travellers, and is a main destination for students overseas. Nearly 88,000 studied there in the 2013-2014 school year, more than any other nationality, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
London, its capital, is one of the top three destinations for mainland tourists to Europe, according to the World Tourism Cities Federation, which surveyed 17,800 outbound tourists from China.
The teddy bear town will inspire more Chinese tourists to visit the UK in future
Meanwhile, British culture has many fans among young Chinese, attracted by television dramas such as ITV’s Downton Abbey and BBC’s Sherlock. The star of Sherlock, actor Benedict Cumberbatch, has been hailed as a sex symbol by his Chinese fans and the drama has streamed millions of times on China’s online video websites.
The teddy bear manufacturer has also experienced great demand from China. According to Jessup, a quarter of its website orders are from China, and most of them choose its Sherlock teddy bear.
Martyn Roper, deputy head of mission at the British Embassy, said the teddy bear town would “inspire more Chinese tourists to visit the UK in future”.
