China. A view of Wonderland, an abandoned amusement park northwest of Beijing. In Chenzhuang Village, 45 minute drive from Beijing, in the middle of a 100-acre corn field, sits the ruins of Wonderland, meant to be ‘the largest amusement park in Asia’. This Chinese replica of Disneyland never opened its doors. Construction on Wonderland began in 1998 but the project was abandoned when developer, local government, and local farmers disagreed over land prices. Today the site offers a...
more »China. A view of Wonderland, an abandoned amusement park northwest of Beijing. In Chenzhuang Village, 45 minute drive from Beijing, in the middle of a 100-acre corn field, sits the ruins of Wonderland, meant to be ‘the largest amusement park in Asia’. This Chinese replica of Disneyland never opened its doors. Construction on Wonderland began in 1998 but the project was abandoned when developer, local government, and local farmers disagreed over land prices. Today the site offers a ghostly look with half-built structures in ruinous state, an unfinished fairytale castle and skeletal remains. Local farmers who were displaced from their land for the project have returned to use the land. Wonderland, where China hoped to rival Disneyland, is a casualty of a common disease: the chaotic growth of the real estate market that has been pushing prices to unthinkable heights for the last two decades creating a bubble that is now about to burst.
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