Australia to make China's Forbidden City theme park near Sydney
Sydney, Dec. 3 (ANI)
Australia is set to make a Chinese theme park featuring the full-size replica of the gates to the Forbidden City in Beijing and nine-story temple housing a giant Buddha.
The plan to turn 15 hectares of land site at Warnervale, north of Sydney, into an oriental wonderland 'more authentic' than Sydney's Chinatown became a reality after Wyong Shire Council officially signed an agreement to sell the land to the Australian Chinese Theme Park Pty Ltd (ACTP) for 10 million dollars.
According to the telegraph.com.au, the council originally bought the vacant land in 1977 for 30,000 dollars.
"Outside the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, this has the potential to be among the biggest tourist attractions in the state," Wyong mayor Doug Eaton said.
"What this proposal will do is turn the Wyong shire into a tourist Mecca and bring millions of dollars worth of tourism into the area, which will have a flow-on effect to the entire region's economy," Eaton added.
Eaton described the project as 'undoubtedly one of the most momentous occasions' in council's history, the report said.
ACTP, which has committed 500 million dollars to the project, revealed the park would comprise seven uniquely themed sections reflecting different elements of Chinese life and culture, the report added.
According to the report, the park will also include the Tang and Song Academy featuring a 400-year-old Ming Dynasty museum that will be dismantled in China and rebuilt at Warnervale.
It will also include a mini-city of three-to four-storey buildings over an artificial canal to reflect the water towns of south China and showcase the country's eight culinary styles.
The first stage of construction is expected to start in 2015 and include the replica of the gates to the Forbidden City, which will serve as the park's entry, with the remainder slated for completion by 2020, the report said.