Sino-Indian Joint Venture To Bring Indian Culture To As Many As 10 Chinese Cities#
The Indian news portal Sify reports this week that the Chinese stage equipment supplier Zhejiang Dafeng Industry Company Limited has signed a joint venture with the Great Indian Nautanki Company (GINC) to bring the popular Indian amusement park "Kingdom of Dreams" to as many as 10 cities in China. Kingdom of Dreams, which currently operates a US$34 million venue in India, consists of three distinct "domains" -- the Culture Gully food court, the Nautanki Mahal musical performance hall, and the soon-to-be-opened Showshaa Theatre.
For the China market, Dafeng and GINC plan to build significantly larger Kingdom of Dreams locations in tourism and commercial centers, with the first park projected to open in Hangzhou in 2012.
[GINC managing director Anumon] Sharma says the destination will be a hit in China because of the colour and razzmatazz it has to offer.
"China may have the best of technologies, but there is a sheer lack of entertainment facilities. There is hardly any song-and-dance culture, their films are mostly action-based, their dance forms are very mild... So the colour, vibrancy, joy of Indian culture will be a welcome change there... Bollywood and Indian dancing will be a hit over there," said Sharma.
The first Kingdom of Dreams will be launched in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, over a 65,000 square metre area. It is expected to be launched in the second half of 2012, following which one such destination will open shop in 'tourist and commercial cities' such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. The entire project will cost $100 million and the expenses will be shared equally by GNIC and Dafeng.
The size of Kingdom of Dreams might be bigger in China, but the Indian touch and construction will remain the same, said Sharma.