Theme parks heat up summer fun

Data from the institute shows that as of October 2024, there were 385 theme parks nationwide. In 2023, 86 key theme parks in China welcomed 130 million visitors and generated more than 30 billion yuan in revenue, representing increases of 71.84 percent and 97.86 percent year on year, respectively. With such a large market scale, China has become a hotspot for global theme park investments.

POPLAND, also known as the Pop Mart City Park, with its popular IPs such as Labubu, has become a hit in Beijing's Chaoyang Park. According to data from Qunar, thanks to Labubu's growing popularity, the park's bookings in June increased sixfold year on year.

In South China's Guangdong province, the gigantic Qingyuan Changlong Resort will soon open its doors to visitors.

Lin Huanjie, head of the Institute for Theme Park Studies in China, said that in the next few years, several large theme parks will open one after another, covering IPs in the fields of animation, film and culture.

The new parks will further enrich the product supply of the domestic theme park market, meet consumers' increasingly diversified needs, and drive the theme park economy to a higher level of development, Lin added.

Recently, Universal Beijing Resort has launched its summer signature limited-time event "Universal Cool Summer," featuring a comprehensive upgrade of graduation-themed interactions and the return of the Universal Cool Summer performance and Hogwarts events. These activities, which will run throughout the summer, are designed to ignite the passion of the season.

In the ancient town of Fengjing in Jinshan district, a LEGO brick installation art exhibition has been set up at the core of the scenic area. Visitors can search for hidden LEGO characters while touring the ancient architecture and exchange limited-edition badges after completing tasks.

"While exploring the ancient town, the children play treasure hunt games, which significantly increases their interest in historical buildings," said a tourist surnamed Zhu.

Driven by technological progress and market demand, China's theme park industry is expected to expand, offering higher-quality services and stronger innovation in the future, according to Lin.