[AN] Chine : un zoo ferme, un parc ouvre

 Guangzhou Changlong Night Zoo, the largest night zoo in the world, would be closed after the National Day holidays, the Guangzhou Daily said Monday.

    The owner of the zoo, Changlong Group, has planned to build an amusement park within the present premises of the night zoo. It will be open to the public before the Spring Festival. The night zoo itself will be closed from Oct. 8.

    The group said the zoo would be reopened at a different location. Its circus performance, however, would become an independent entertainment attraction, hopefully open to the public in the end of the year.

    The group would invest millions of yuan in the project, the report said.

    During the National Day holidays, visitors to the night zoo would get a coupon valued at 30 yuan (US$3.7) which could be used in the new amusement park or at the coming circus.

    Chen Pi, vice director of the Changlong Group, denied the company was trying to compete with Hong Kong Disneyland. He said the group was keeping in mind the preferences of visitors.

    "We know the difference between raising a real dog and an electronic dog. We have to feed the real dog that costs us more than the electronic dog needs. It is the same question when we mention a zoo and an amusement park," Chen said.

    Liu Wei, a professor from Guangdong University of Finance, wasn't optimistic about the park. About 70 to 80 percent of the amusement parks had been closed down in the country, including the Dongfang (Oriental) Amusement Park in Guangzhou, he said. He said that it could not compete with the entertainment giant Disneyland.

    However, some experts said it might succeed because the Hong Kong Disneyland would probably bring amusement parks to the attention of visitors, and that would benefit the one in Guangzhou.

Source : Xinhua