Disney To Open Theme Park In China

Disney will open its first theme park in China on June 16, the company announced. Originally clated to open last year, the $5.5 billion facility will feature the usual Disneyland attractions from an Enchanted Storybook Castle -- the tallest in any Disney park -- to a Toy Story-themed hotel and a theater with Chinese-language production of the Broadway hit 'The Lion King.'

'When it opens in June, Shanghai Disney resort will be a one-of-a-kind, world-class destination that is authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese,' Disney chairman and chief executive Robert Iger said in a statement.

Chinese officials made sure that the park will reflect China's own culture before permitting the icon of U.S. entertainment to enter the country.

"The resort reflects Disney's legendary storytelling along with China's rich culture, and showcases some of the most creative and innovative experiences we've ever created," Iger said.

In 2005, Disney opened a theme park in Hong Kong, the former British colony that is now a special administrative region of China.

It also has parks in Tokyo, the U.S. states of California and Florida, and near the French capital Paris -- where there was outrage over the prospect of American cultural invasion when it was first proposed, although Europeans later embraced it.

The project was first thought of as far back as the late 1990s and current Chinese President Xi Jinping has said he backed the plan. Last year, Xi told U.S. business executives that he helped the venture get under way when other officials were pushing for a more Chinese culture-based project.

"I voted yes for Disney," he recounted, "because China needs a diverse-culture-based entertainment market."

The park is a joint venture between Disney and China's state-backed Shanghai Shendi Group, with the U.S. firm owning a 70 percent stake in the management company that will run it.

The park is in Shanghai's premier development zone of Pudong, not far from its international airport, and represents the city's tourism future following the World Expo in 2010.