China has said hello to newest and world's largest Hello Kitty theme park, after it officially opened its doors to a multitude of fans in Anji County, Zhejiang Province, China on July 1.
Japanese company Sanrio, who created Hello Kitty in 1974, joined entertainment design firm Hettema Group from California, to build the new park, which cost 210m pounds, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the cartoon character, which took place last year.
The 9.5 hectare park soft opened last November and only 65 per cent of its activities and rides were operational, but was subjected to a barrage of abuse from critics, who were unimpressed with its design and layout.
Now organisers are determined that the park will be bigger and better now it has opened officially, and officials anticipate they will receive around one million visitors every year.
A staff member said that they have received good feedback since they soft opened in January and they have also received many suggestions of improvement which helped them to improve our business.
The park, which was previously branded as "cheesy," "boring" and "a despicable project" by visitors, opened with a massive Hello Kitty Run. Over 1,000 tourists from across the globe participated, clad in Hello Kitty costumes.
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Every Friday and Saturday from now on the park will organise grand night parades. It will also be covered by Wi-Fi, an essential for tech-mad tourists who want to upload their snaps to Instagram and Facebook.
Liu Fudao, general manager of the park's operator Zhejiang Yinrun Angle Park Management Company, told Disneyland is big and comprehensive and their Hello Kitty Theme Park is small and selective. They have different strengths as well as a shared goal, which is to bring people happiness.