China’s new $10 billion cultural city in Chengdu to provide inspiration for Evandale redevelopment

A $10 BILLION Chinese “cultural” city is set to provide inspiration for the next stage of the Evandale redevelopment.

Mayor Tom Tate is visiting Chengdu where he is seeking inspiration for further cultural development. Chendu is home to this water park in the world’s largest building.

A $10-billion Chinese “cultural” city is set to provide inspiration for the next stage of the Evandale redevelopment.

Mayor Tom Tate and tourism leaders will this week visit the Wanda Cultural Tourism City in Chengdu, a 310-hectare development which celebrates Sichuan culture and incorporates a shopping centre, luxury resorts, theme park, theatres and eateries.

Construction of the development began last year and will have the world’s most advanced indoor ski slopes.

Cr Tate, speaking from China, said the state-of-the-art technology could be adapted for use on the Gold Coast.

“I am looking forward to seeing what they are doing and I am keen to observe the state-of-the-art technology that will be showcased,” he said.

“We will look at how elements of it could be adapted for our own cultural precinct.

“Obviously ours will not be on the same magnitude as what they are doing but if there are good ideas, we can look at downsizing them for our own facilities.”

Construction of the Gold Coast cultural precinct’s first stage, which will include an amphitheatre, is under way and is expected to be finished in early 2018.

Future stages, likely to include a colourful “arts tower” and pedestrian bridge connection to Chevron Island, are on the drawing board.

Cr Tate is in China on a mayoral mission and has been joined by tourism leaders, including Gold Coast Tourism chairman Paul Donovan and Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter, as well as Deputy Mayor Donna Gates to spruik the city.

Late last week he met with his Chengdu counterpart to sign an agreement on his “second home strategy” which will bring thousands of Chinese students to study on the Coast.

It comes just weeks after the council flagged plans to slash infrastructure charges for Coast schools building new accommodation for international students.

The group will this week fly to the Chinese city of Sanya on the southern island of Hainan, to formalise a relationship with the tourism mecca.

Sanya is a popular holiday spot for Russians and it is hoped this could allow the Gold Coast to tap into the Russian market.

“It is considered to be China’s equivalent of the Gold Coast and we are keen to exchange ideas and work towards a sister-city relationship,” Cr Tate said.

“I want to sign an agreement to share these ideas and we have already hosted delegations from there in the past year, so we are keen to see what they have got.

“Long term, I would like to invest in direct flights to Sanya.”

There are no direct flights between Australia and the island but the Chinese city already has direct flights to Vladivostok through Siberia-based carrier, S7 Airlines and Hainan Airlines.

Mr Winter has already returned to Australia and said he supported the drive to find new tourism product for the city.

“It is wrong to think that China lags behind and, in fact, in many ways they are far ahead in the way they treat their visitor economy,” he said.

“Today’s travellers are looking for different and more meaningful experiences, so we need to constantly reinvent to ensure we remain relevant.

“Last year tourism from China grew 38 per cent and they are now our single largest international market, and there is no sense that this is trend will end soon.”