Just how Chinese is Shanghai’s Disneyland?

SHANGHAI — Before Shanghai Disneyland threw open its gates to the masses on June 16, Chairman Bob Iger declared the US$5.5 billion (S$7.4 billion) park would have a “distinctly Chinese” feel.

“We didn’t build Disneyland in China, we built China’s Disneyland,” he said ahead of the big day.

So, besides the signage and announcements in Mandarin, just how much of a Chinese experience does Shanghai Disneyland offer its visitors?

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Walking through the gates, under the watchful eyes of the Mickey Mouse clock, my first impression was that I could be at Disneyland in California, Tokyo or Hong Kong. Mickey, Donald Duck, Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh dutifully greeted the visitors and posed for snapshots.

Beautifully landscaped grounds and a first glimpse of the biggest-ever Magic Kingdom castle yelled “Disney”. But there was nothing to make me raise an eyebrow and think “Ah, an Asian twist”.

Seven of the 15 rides I counted on the map are new to any Disney park. With a statistic like that, you may think it the perfect excuse to shoehorn in some China themes. Alas, there are none. The Pirates of the Caribbean ride stands out as a marvel of special effects engineering, while the Shanghai-exclusive ride Tron, a thrilling motorcycle-based trip through a dark, digital world, is based on the 1982 film starring Jeff Bridges that is virtually unknown in China.

Disney’s only animated film based on a Chinese story, Mulan, which tells the tale of a Chinese warrior woman, got neither its own ride or stage show. The character appears as a statue and there’s a nice Mulan float in the parade, but a dramatic ride would have definitely added to the park’s China identity.

THE SHOWS

Chinese elements are definitely more prevalent in the shows, although the themes are strictly Disney-by-numbers. The death-defying Tarzan spectacle is performed by a Chinese acrobatic troupe, executed almost without wires. The Lion King musical, performed in Mandarin for the first time, features the Monkey King and characters dressed in Chinese opera garb to appeal to an Asian audience.

THE FOOD

The park boasts a Chinese teahouse restaurant, beautifully built in a traditional style. Some of the dishes I tasted there were spot-on recreations of traditional Chinese dishes, such as the Shanghai-area specialities “hongshao” pork belly and “eight treasures duck” rice.

Elsewhere, a Mickey Mouse-shaped pizza topped with Peking duck bridged the US-China gap, and standard Western fare — corn dogs, fried chicken and barbecue ribs — were widely available. Sadly, many of the Chinese offerings, fried noodles and the like, at other venues around the park just weren’t very good.

SHOPPING

Like any Disney park there are shops everywhere, selling all kinds of Disney-branded goods, from Mickey Mouse ears to Jack Sparrow plastic swords. Most appeared to be merchandise you could pick up at any store, but there were a few Shanghai surprises, like Mickey and Minnie dressed in traditional red wedding gowns.

SO HOW CHINESE IS SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND?

In the end, the most Chinese thing about the park is the visitors themselves. After intensive market studies, the resort was built to give consumers what they wanted. This might tell you more about people’s tastes and desires than the preconceptions people have of their traditional culture. If that’s the case, the Chinese dream President Xi Jinping is promoting may point to a future less about dancing dragons and firecrackers and more about leisure-time and spending money. BLOOMBERG