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WHAT was once a former oyster farming island across a narrow waterway from Macau is now being transformed into China’s newest tourist haven.
The 12,000-sq m venue – in partnership with Hong Kong-listed developer, Lai Sun Group and set to open in 2021 – will include virtual reality entertainment and a museum showcasing the club’s history.
Hengqin has seen a surge of property prices in the last couple of years due its landmark attraction, the “Ocean Kingdom” theme park with a slew of hotel, malls and sprawling residential developments being built nearby.
Phase One of Novotown is under construction at Hengqin Island. Source: Reuters
The ongoing transformation of the island – three times larger than Macau, currently the biggest gambling district in the world – is part of Beijing’s efforts to bolster links between Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in the Pearl River Delta region.
The project to remodel Hengqin has been compared to that of global bay areas such as Tokyo and San Francisco.
“Hengqin will be the Orlando of China. Macau is Las Vegas (and) Hong Kong is New York,” Larry Leung, an executive with Lai Sun that is helping build the Real Madrid complex at its “Novotown” project in Hengqin, told Reuters. “Within an hour you can have them all.”
On top of that, Novotown’s entertainment offerings will include China’s first Lionsgate movie world with theme rides from blockbuster films such as The Hunger Games and Twilight, as well as a National Geographic educational center.
High-end hotel chains and luxury yacht makers are also building more hotels and a marina on the bay.
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Source: travelwireasia.com