China's Shaanxi Province is gearing up to relive prehistory with
a 220 million yuan ($28.2 million) dinosaur theme park - and is
hoping to attract a few tourists in the process.
Officials from Shaanxi Yangling Agriculture High-tech Industrial
Demonstration Zone and Beijing Jurassic Era Park Investment
Management Company met in the provincial capital Xi'an this weekend
to sign a contract to build Jurassic Era Park in Yangling, a city
in this province. The park is to be completed next year.
Beijing Jurassic Era Park Investment Management Company was
acting on behalf of a Japanese enterprise that owns the rights to
develop Jurassic Park theme parks in Asia. The parks are based on
the American writer Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic
Park, which was later turned into a popular film series by
Steven Spielberg.
Wang Yaomin, chairman of the board of the Beijing company, said
Shaanxi was a key destination, attracting millions of tourists from
both home and abroad to visit the world-famous terracotta
warriors.
However, the few attractions in the area give tourists little
reason to stay for very long, he added.
"Jurassic Era Park is a theme park featuring acoustic, optical
and electronic technology allowing for the integration of science,
technology and culture. Tourists can expect to learn a lot.
Entering the park, visitors will enjoy leisure, recreation and
entertainment, all while learning about popular science," Wang
said.
Wen Ming, director of Yangling Zone's foreign investment
promotion bureau, had similarly high hopes for the park.
"Visitors should stay for more than one day in Jurassic Park.
The project here will promote tourism in Yangling, home of the
world-famous Famen Temple. We hope the project will also stimulate
local transportation, catering and urban construction and further
speed up local economic development," Wen said.
The Yangling Jurassic Era Park will be the third such park in
Asia, said sources at Beijing Jurassic Era Park Investment
Management Company.
Yangling Agricultural High-tech Industrial Demonstration Zone,
China's only such development zone for modern agriculture, is
located some 180 kilometers west of Xi'an. Taibai Mountain and
Famen Temple are two of Shaanxi's key tourism destinations.
Tourism experts said the Jurassic Park project would enrich
Shaanxi's tourism industry, which is dominated ancient cultural
relics, ruins, tombs and buildings.
(China Daily April 11, 2007)
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