The Chongqing authorities have scrapped a plan to build a 2.5 billion yuan (HK$3 billion) 'red culture' theme park after widespread public criticism, Xinhua reported yesterday.
The municipal publicity department said on Thursday night that it was not appropriate to launch the 'China Red Classic Theme Park' - originally planned for Chongqing's southern Nanchuan district - and the contract for the project, signed on Monday, had been terminated.
Xinhua quoted Li Jing, deputy director of the Nanchuan district government's publicity department, as saying that the decision had been passed down from the municipal publicity department. He had no idea what had caused the change of heart or what would happen next.
Chen Bo, chief of the district's merchants bureau, said the project had been cancelled. The investor, Chongqing Red Classics Investment, a private company, told Xinhua that it might invest in other projects.
The 128 hectare park, bigger than Hong Kong Disneyland, was to have featured the world's largest flags when completed in 2015, the Chongqing Evening News said on Tuesday.
That announcement generated thousands of comments on mainland internet forums. Most commenters believed it was risky and a waste of money. The controversy did not calm down after the authorities clarified that the investment would come from private companies, not the government.
