Shanghai Disneyland showcases Chinese influence throughout park

World Today

Disney’s newest theme park will be opening in Shanghai in one month and visitors can expect to see Chinese elements in its newest park.

CCTV’s Ding Siyue reports on how The Walt Disney Co. is incorporating more Chinese elements into the park.

While Donald Duck is known around the world, few people know he’s a practitioner of the Chinese martial art of Tai Chi.

“We were thinking we could let Disney characters tell Chinese stories. I think ‘Donald Duck practicing Tai Chi’ is a wonderful combination,” Xu Chang, assistant producer for Shanghai Disney Resort said.

“I hope we could create a feeling of familiarity to the tourists through interaction between characters and tourists.”

There’s even the Garden of 12 Friends with Disney characters representing the Chinese Zodiac signs.

Chinese elements are not just in some of the storytelling or the characters, but also in a lot of the design.

The Walt Disney Grand Theater, located in a shopping and dining area and modeled after local architectural styles, will host the Chinese version of the Broadway show “The Lion King”.