Tibetan Theme Park

In August this year it was announced that $4.7 billion was to be spent on a theme park in Tibet!

The planned theme park is being used first of all for a movie based on a Princess Wencheng who married a Tibet King. The 2,000 acre theme park is to be located just outside the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

Tibet is home to Mount Everest and the area of the Himalaya is called “The Roof of the World”. Apparently there are also plans for themed villages, including one that will represent Alpine Switzerland!

Completion is hoped by 2017. Critics have called it the ‘Disneyfication of Tibet’, but the planners say it aims to alleviate some of the tourist burden placed on Lhasa. And perhaps if employment goes up and more money is brought to Tibet, the locals may soften their desire for independence. They hope to double the current 8.5 million tourists who visit Tibet to around 15 million, which could equate to $1.5 billion a year in tourism.

Other critics say that local Tibetan culture is at stake and may not be celebrated in the theme park. There are also worries how a city like Lhasa which has around 500,000 people could cope with the extra millions.

It looks like a story set to run and run.