Competition encourages cultural innovations

SHANGHAI DISNEY RESORT, which officially opens on Thursday, reportedly received more than 600,000 visitors during a month's trial period ahead of its opening. Beijing News commented on Thursday:

Shanghai Disney Resort's prospects are bright, given the enormous popularity of the company's other theme parks with Chinese. The number of visitors could easily reach 20 million in the first year, as estimated. It is also likely to contribute at least 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) to Shanghai's economy per year.

Some, however, remain skeptical of the theme park's future, presuming that it will struggle to make ends meet in years to come after its initial appeal wears off, because the characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are outdated and Shanghai's weather is not favorable to the park.