“This is an innovative attraction, because it’s just different,” he says.

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The US$1.5 billion Oriental Science Fiction Valley park, part of which is scheduled to open next February, is part of China’s plan to develop new drivers of growth centred on trends such as gaming, sports and cutting-edge technology, to cut reliance on traditional industries.

Guizhou is luring firms such as Apple, which has sited its China data centre there, while the world’s largest radio telescope is in nearby Pingtang county.

The park is touted as the first of its kind, although virtual-reality-based attractions from the United States to Japan already draw interest from consumers and video gamers.

The park will offer tourists bungee jumps from a huge Transformer-like robot, and a studio devoted to producing virtual reality films. Most rides will use VR goggles and motion simulators.

“You feel like you’re really there,” says Qu Zhongjie, the park’s manager of rides. “That’s our main feature.”

Farmers in the nearby village of Zhangtianshui say they are concerned about pollution from big developments, but look forward to the economic benefits a new theme park would bring. Most are less sure about virtual battles or alien invasions.

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“There are lots of good things that come out of these projects,” says one farmer, Liu Guangjun. “As for virtual reality, I don’t really understand it.”