Xi’s Celebrity Fight No Match for Universal Studios in China
- Beijing theme park sees surging demand ahead of Monday opening
- China has taken aim at ‘fan culture’ and overpaid celebrities
People queue to enter the Universal Studios Beijing theme park during an invitation-only test in Beijing on Sept. 1, 2021.
Photographer: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
As President Xi Jinping’s government looks to tame China’s celebrities, the popularity of a new Universal Studios theme park in Beijing shows Hollywood’s enduring soft power among the nation’s 1.4 billion people.
Tickets for the grand opening on Monday, priced at 638 yuan ($99), sold out within 30 minutes of going online last week -- as did rooms costing as much as 20,000 yuan at the resort’s two hotels, according to state-run media. Fliggy, an online travel site operated by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., last week apologized for overselling the 500 yuan Universal Express Pass that lets visitor skip lines.