St Louis, MO, USA — Chimelong Ocean Kingdom is nearing the end of its three-year construction period on Hengqin Island in China’s southeastern Guangdong province.
PGAV Destinations is serving as the attraction’s lead strategist, planner, designer, and product developer, having previously leveraged regional experience including The Grand Aquarium in Hong Kong and the Terracotta Warriors Museum in Xi’an. Ocean Kingdom will be the first great Asian theme park combining animal exhibits, themed entertainment shows, and thrill rides. Its eight themed zones will incorporate family and thrill attractions like the MACK dark ride, and super splash as well as a Bolliger & Mabillard flying coaster and a wide variety of marine life.
The Mandarin word for ‘Ocean’ encompasses all aquatic environments, so guests will soon come face-to-face with an array of famous aquatic stars such as, a whale shark (in a walk-through viewing tunnel), pantropical spotted dolphins, and Chinese white dolphins, making their world-premiere under human care.
Guangdong Chimelong Group, under the leadership of Mr. Su Zhigang, is no stranger to themed attraction development and management. Its two main resorts, Guangzhou Chimelong and Zhuhai Chimelong, incorporate an impressive portfolio of successful tourist destinations including resorts, theme parks, luxury hotels, restaurants, water parks, circuses, safari parks, and even a crocodile park boasting more than 100,000 crocodiles.
Ocean Kingdom is an essential piece of the mega-development project being undertaken by Chimelong on the island of Hengqin. Being modeled after Orlando, FL, Zhuhai Hengqin Chimelong Ocean Resort aims to develop a massive resort over more than three square miles including a golf course, yachting center, sports facilities, theaters, convention centers, flower park, science center, and much more. Mr. Su confidently stated that it is slated “to become the new benchmark for the theme park industry” and will be “the Orlando of China.”
Ocean Kingdom’s role serves not only to entertain and to thrill, but also to bring the projected millions of annual visitors closer to the marine animals and their stories. The immersive, high-tech, themed-environments will bridge the often wide gap between humans and their underwater neighbors, generating a deeper understanding of these creatures and a call-to-action to join conservation efforts for them and their habitats.
