Legoland: The world's largest park of its kind opens in China

Thousands of visitors attended the opening of China's first Legoland park in Shanghai on Saturday, a park experiencing a boom in domestic tourism despite the country's economic slowdown. Despite the harsh temperatures, Lego fans flocked to the park, the largest Legoland park in the world at 318,000 square meters.

"I love playing with Lego, and we have a lot of them at home. So I wanted to come to Legoland as soon as possible," said Shi, a 35-year-old man who came with his wife and son from the neighboring city of Hangzhou. Despite China's slow economic growth in recent years, the domestic tourist market grew 18.6% in the first quarter compared to 2024 , according to official statistics. See more: Unbeatable? The 'hot dog king' devours 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes

This context favors the multiplication of leisure offerings in the Asian giant, so Legoland will have to face stiff competition. A new "Spiderman" attraction opened in May at Disneyland Shanghai, while Warner Brothers is preparing to open a Harry Potter park in the same city by 2027.

See more: Does shampooing with water really help? This is what AI said. American toy giant Hasbro also announced this week that the huge Peppa Pig park, which will open in this Chinese metropolis, was already "in the creative design phase."

But profitability remains a challenge, especially for local companies with lesser-known brands. By the end of 2024, around 40% of parks were still not making a profit, according to state media.

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