BBC to build theme parks themed to Top Gear and BBC Earth

This kind of slipped under the radar but it seems the BBC (as in the British Broadcasting Corporation) will build a theme park on the Island of Hainan in China. Joining the 4 already under construction theme park projects on the extremely popular holiday destination.

It sounds like the same kind of licensing deal that Six Flags has struck up in China and Dubai with another company paying to License the BBC name.

It seems there will be 2 parks (although it could be one with two areas. The articles are a bit hard to parse) one themed to Top Gear and a second themed to Planet Earth

The park(s) will be built somewhere in the Moon Bay region on the eastern side of the Island.

More info on this as it appears I guess.

Sources:

https://m.sohu.com/n/493750590/?wscrid=95360_7 (In Chinese)

http://www.sohu.com/a/135057859_663440 (Also in Chinese)

Nearly all of that concept art looks like it's ripping off something else

Omg. This is perfect.

Now now now...let's be careful. we have Chinese people on this board who can see this. Racism and hate do not translate into Mandarin very well either. Racism is the belief that one race is better than another race. In Mandarin, racism and hate means exposing the truth about dishonest practices in China on the Theme Park Review...or least this is what I understand it to mean according to a couple of Chinese enthusiasts...

I spotted Baron in the first picture and it looks like they used the Vekoma double corkscrew coaster on the second image!

It will be one of those projects that die after 30 mins.

Ok when I saw BBC I instantly thought of something more, well . . . Adult oriented .

One thing to make note of here is that it is somewhat common for parks to use similar artwork and yes, even photos from other parks. This is true even in America. The year Steel Phantom opened, the coaster pictured in the Kennywood Brochure was Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

I am sure that when these parks open that they will not be copying much of anything. BBC will likely not copy much of anything in terms of buildings or rides. It may also be a safe bet that the rides and parks will operate at a western standard due to the fact that foreigners who live in and visit China will likely want to check these places out. These parks, along with Chimelong, Disney and Six Flags should set a new standard for Chinese parks. The more Chinese people are exposed to parks operating at a western standard, the less impressed they will be at places like Happy Valley.

I am just sad that Jeremy Clarkson will not be represented at the Top Gear park. BBC messed up big time there. At least we will still have the Stig.