儿童节也是做生意的好日子

Today is International Children’s Day, a day that kids around the world to celebrate as their own and get treated to some special fun. The tradition is helping drive the growth of China’s children-oriented industries.

Looking for fun on Children’s day? A visit to a theme park often tops the list of the the place to go for a family outing.

"Beijing Happy Valley caters to over 3 million visitors a year. We currently rank twelve among all theme parks in Asia in terms of visitor volume, and we hope to move higher in the ranks. Today we’ve launched a series of ocean theme facilities, and this is our third expansion since we started 8 years ago," said Yuan Jun, assistant director of Beijing Happy Valley.

Happy Valley has a lot of competition. The world’s most famous theme park franchise, Disneyland, has invested about 25 billion yuan in its Shanghai theme park, nine years after the US giant launched its theme park in Hong Kong.

"I think Disneyland and Happy Valley are quite different. Disney’s experience is based on children cartoons, and our attractions come from showcasing different cultures around the world. We also incorporate local Chinese culture in many of our shows and performances," Yuan said.

Analysts say theme parks across China are witnessing a shift in visitor demographics. As Beijing Happy Valley’s business expands, the park is also adjusting its target customer.

"Our target customers used to be focused on youth from 15 to 35 years old. But we’ve expanded that age range, and added more facilities to cater to younger kids as well as adults in our new projects. Now we hope to attract people from 3 to 50 years old," Yuan said.

Beijing Happy Valley’s owners have so far sunk 2 billion yuan into the park, which has yet to recoup all of its investment. Company officials aren’t worried about a slow rate of return, saying they could welcome 5 million visitors next year -- 50 percent more than this year.