Beijing's Wonderland amusement park demolished

Most of the unfinished Wonderland Amusement Park in Beijing's Changping district has been demolished after 15 years of abandonment.

The Reignwood Group launched construction of the park, which was going to the biggest amusement park in Asia, in the mid-1990s. However, construction was stopped in 1998, leaving the park uncompleted.

An Feng, the chief inspector of the investment supervision department of Reignwood Group, said that construction was suspended because most land covered by the park is forestry land, and the policy to protect such land changed after major floods in 1998, forcing the company to review its plans.

Even though the park was unfinished, the fairytale castles there and other facilities still attracted many visitors every year.

Demolishment operations started on April 20 and most buildings are now gone. There are only some foundations left.

"In 2005, the local government of Changping district got the usage rights for part of the land covered by the park back when it was doing the planning for its new town. However, we can use only 15 hectares now," An said.

"A comprehensive luxury product supermarket will be built on the site, but we are still going through the planning permission formalities," An added.