Simply put, the analysis that this mall has a poor location that’s difficult to get to is not an understatement. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China, and contributes to The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. Right now it is like a plane going down a runway, in a year or two it will be flying high,” spoke its manager in a documentary shot in 2009. She seemed concerned that I may have been setting myself up for disappointment. This couldn’t be more true when it comes to the world’s biggest shopping mall. Doubly so, as the locals were unable to give them the exact directions. Yes, it is funny how places can develop without regarding the human element needed for them to succeed. In September 2007, the Founder Group changed the mall’s name from ‘South China Mall’ to ‘New South China Mall’ and hoped for the best. This is a country that spent a good amount of the past century destroying the vestiges of its own heritage, so I guess it’s reasonable that they don’t respect the heritage of other cultures. Researchers were sent to malls all over the world to scrap, copy, and gather ideas for its design, and they returned with a bag of tricks that were intended to make this place the mother of all shopping complexes. If you find the above article inaccurate or biased, please let us know at [email protected]. Built on what was formerly agricultural land in Wanjiang district in Dongguan in Guangdong province, the South China Mall is situated some 55 kilometres away from the city centre in an out of the way location that is not easy to reach. “Abandoned” is perhaps the wrong word to describe this place, as nothing was ever here to begin with. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Likewise, Shangri-La Hotels reneged on their promise to open 5-star facilities in the mall complex. “This bus goes to the New South China Mall, right?”. She didn’t really know. I passed by a coffee house that was packed with people. There are public performances and music going on outside of it, there are people walking through the parts of it that are open, and many of the stores on the main streets are open for business. In 10 years or so, it turned a bankrupt country into the 2nd richest of its continent. “Two hours!” I responded in surprise. (Remko Tanis / Flickr). If this mall can be saved and made to prosper it would be a monumental symbol of what this country is capable of. As the Times put it, with perhaps a trace of hyperbole, the "Chinese have started to embrace America's 'shop till you drop' ethos and are in the middle of a buy-at-the-mall frenzy." The shrills of kids resonated through the corridor I was walking through. Later, in December 2006, when it became more than apparent that the mall was a failure, Mr. Hu sold a 50% controlling interest in the mall to Peking University’s Founder Group. They also built their own public transportation network in the form of a 2.1 km canal upon which gondolas could transport tired passengers from wing to wing of this massive mall, an amusement park which contained, among other things, a 553-meter indoor-outdoor roller coaster, myriad fountains and kitsch, and one of the biggest IMAX theaters in the country. Fact Analysis: STSTW Media strives to deliver accurate information through careful research. I cannot say that I saw any indications of this having an impact on the mall, as 99% of the stores are still vacant, but I can say that the area around it has been provisioned with brand new middle class apartment blocks. Contact the author. There was some kind of amusement park in the distance. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2168507/Footage-shows-brand-new-Angolan-city-designed-500-000-lying-empty.html. It all sat empty waiting for something to happen. The attendant just nodded her head and smiled at me endearingly, it was the kind of look that’s reserved for fools. With time, it became a cargo airport and home of a few charter companies, in addition to being one of the operation bases for Bombardier aerospace. It’s almost a if the developers think that creating the broader infrastructure that would bring people to their projects is someone else’s responsibility — and I guess it is. Yes, right now more massive construction projects around the mall are running at full tilt. I looked at the people on the bus and in the streets. There was something unsettling about the escalators as they sat still, frozen in time, permanently blanketed beneath tarps. Whatever is the case, this mall is a reality check on China’s rampant growth and a challenge to see if it can substantiate it’s breakneck pace of development and economic growth.
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