Shanghai slideshow

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Update on Disney in Shanghai

     In one of my previous blog entries, I mentioned the presence of Disney in China. There had been rumors for a long time about a Shanghai Disney Project. The main focus of the project being the announcement of plans to build a Disneyland theme park in Shanghai. The Chinese government would not comment on the project until recently. Last week, China finally made the announcement that Disneyland would be coming to Shanghai, becoming one of the biggest foreign investment projects to take place in China. Certainly, the project is a way for Disney to expand its global presence internationally. I mentioned in a previous post that Disney is also working on a movie project in Shanghai based off of their hit movie High School Musical. Disneyland is another step in Disney expanding itself into the international arena. I saw a few Disney stores when I would walk around. I showed my host family pictures of my trip to Disneyworld a few years ago and they recognized many of the Disney characters immediately, especially Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I showed them some photos of a musical performance featuring Mickey and Minnie and other notable Disney characters such as Daffy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. They recognized the pictures I showed them of a man dressed as  Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He was doing a street performance and I remember being very impressed at how identical his mannerisms and voice was to the character played by Johnny Depp.

     Theme parks are becoming very popular in China. There is already a Disneyland in Hong Kong. When I was in Shanghai, there were several different parks, amusement parks, and water parks to choose from. Disneyland in Shanghai is set to open in 2014. It will be a downscaled sized Disneyland  I am happy for the friends I made in Shanghai to have Disneyland in their city. From my experience in Shanghai, I could definitely sense a great Western influence in the city. A few years ago, there  was a mandate to change the street signs in China to include English as well as Chinese characters. Events like the Shanghai Expo and the building of Disneyland show that China is expanding itself to include the Western world. People from all over the world and several different countries will participate in the Expo next year. The United States will have a big influence in the event. 

http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE5A30UD20091104

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aEkAUvcBZD2E

http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2009/11/plans-for-shanghai-disneyland-advance-but-how-big-will-it-be/