As Legoland Shanghai Resort officially opened its gates to public on Saturday (July 5) in Shanghai, thousands of local tourists poured into China’s first Legoland. Visitors began lining up early in the morning, many coming from Shanghai and nearby cities, despite the scorching summer heat and long queues – marking a new milestone in the country’s cultural and tourism development.
Located in Fengjing Town, Jinshan district, the 318,000-square-meter resort is specifically designed for families with children aged two to 12. The world’s largest Legoland showcases thousands of Lego models constructed from more than 85 million Lego bricks. As one of 11 parks across the world, the Chinese resort drew early customers who flocked to attractions including a miniature train ride and a dragon-themed rollercoaster.
The Chinese branch of the British-owned theme park franchise features eight immersive themed areas with over 75 interactive rides, shows, and attractions. Welcoming visitors was a giant 26-meter (85-foot) Lego figure named Dada. The opening of the resort, together with Amazon China’s major summer sales event, reflects growing confidence among foreign businesses in China’s recovering consumer market.
Among the main attractions is Miniland, which replicates well-known sights from across the world using Lego bricks. It features landmarks across China like Beijing’s Temple of Heaven and Shanghai’s Bund waterfront. The extraordinary achievement has been made possible thanks to 10,000 workers and 300 teams from 15 countries.
Several exclusive attractions include the world’s first Lego Monkie Kid live show and the world’s first water-town-style boat tour showcasing miniature versions of traditional Jiangnan water towns and modern Shanghai cityscapes built from Lego bricks magnified 25 times. At the center of the park, Legoland Creative World features the largest Lego minifigure Dada.
Water enthusiasts can also head to Lego Friends land for jet-ski at Water Race Challenge, glide through waves at the Beach Party, or join a friendly boat-building competition at Build-A-Boat. At Lego Castle themed land, guests are transported to a world of knights, wizards, and dragons with thrilling speed and height challenges.
Distinctive themed areas include Lego Ninjago themed land, where visitors can experience rides including Lego Ninjago The Ride, Jay’s Gravity Force Trainer, and Kai’s Sky Master. Families can also head to the Driving School to earn their very first driver’s license or team up with their loved ones for a thrilling firefighting rescue. It’s a place where every child can be a hero.
Throughout the resort, 6 restaurants, tens of food stands and 10 retail stores provide a wide range of dining and shopping options. Pigsy’s Food Court, CITY Restaurant, and Bricks Family Restaurant serve up LEGO themed tableware for a playful meal. Ice cream food carts dish out Dragon Ollie and LEGO brick-shaped ice-cream delights. It also features Asia’s largest “The Big Shop” and the world’s first Lego Monkie Kid’s Merch shop.
Guests can extend the fun with a sleepover at LEGOLAND Hotel, where they are greeted by Ollie the Dragon and can enjoy character meet-and-greets, pyjama dance parties, and nightly surprises that carry the magic of the park into bedtime. Tickets range from US$44 (319 yuan) to US$84 (599 yuan).
“I personally love to play with Lego blocks and we have many sets at home… so I wanted to come to Legoland at the earliest opportunity,” – said Mr Shi, a 35-year-old resident of nearby city Hangzhou, who was visiting the park with his wife and child. “My first impression is it is a good recreation, like a real fairyland of Lego,” – said Ji Yujia, a Lego fan who was there on opening day.
The resort was developed in conjunction with the Shanghai government by Merlin Entertainments and the LEGO Group. The grand opening ceremony was attended by representatives from the Shanghai and Jinshan governments, Merlin Entertainments, the Lego Group, and New Jinshan Investment Group, along with guests and visitors.
“Our purpose at Merlin Entertainments is to bring people together to create memorable experiences for families around the world. Today, we are taking that to the next level, with the opening of Legoland Shanghai Resort, our first Legoland Resort in China, the second-biggest theme park market in the world,” – said Fiona Eastwood, CEO of Merlin Entertainments.
Legoland Shanghai will be an integral part of the Lego ecosystem in China and a great addition to Lego’s retail network and brand events enhancing the immersive and interactive Lego play experiences for Lego’s customers, according to Niels B. Christiansen, president and CEO of the Lego Group.
To celebrate the opening, the resort is hosting a special “Brand Opening Week” from July 5 to 13, featuring new themed decorations, immersive experiences, and exclusive promotions. Daily welcome shows will be performed at Lego Plaza, offering visitors opportunities to interact with Legoland characters.
Despite the Chinese economy’s sluggish growth in recent years, domestic tourist spending grew 18.6% in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous year, according to statistics. Beijing has announced subsidies intended to make travelling within the country more affordable for Chinese citizens, and is pushing local governments to heavily market their attractions on social media.
Companies have taken note of the wider local tourism boom and stepped up their plans in China. A new Spider-Man attraction at Shanghai Disneyland broke ground in May, while Warner Brothers is set to open a Harry Potter experience in Shanghai by 2027. Toy giant Hasbro said this week its giant “Peppa Pig” park in the city was now “in the phase of creative design”.
Additionally, Chinese collectable toy maker Pop Mart has also opened an attraction in Beijing featuring life-sized versions of its popular Labubu toys. “The various provinces are putting a lot of effort into expanding their tourism industries, and all of them have special attractions,” – said Mr Xu, a 34-year-old parent visiting Legoland on Saturday with his children.
However, profitability remains a problem, especially for local companies with less brand recognition. As of late 2024, around 40% of parks were still struggling to turn a profit, according to state media reports. Yet analysts point to a growing population of retirees and job market changes as key factors pushing more locals to visit domestic attractions.
Still, the opening of the latest resort has also boosted nearby consumption, with hotel bookings increasing 3.5 times and homestay reservations surging sixfold in recent days. Experts have pointed out that the steady arrival of international theme parks, from Disney and Universal Studios to LEGOLAND, shows the openness of China’s market and the Chinese consumption upgrade.
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July 5th, 2025 by financetwitter
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It may just be plastic bricks and non of our garbage politicians and ketuananites able to construct anything out of Lego – unlike, of course, those highly-qualified technocrat politicians of Ketuanan Cina, but I would rather our garbage politicians make unrecognisable rubbish out of Lego than run our country down while stealing our money.
We should get a Legoland going here, Chinese kids should be invited to teach our monkeys a thing or two. For a start we can learn how to to build a bridge that is not crooked to Singkistan. The Chinese kids can win awards for us since we can’t win anything and even destroy Legoland.
If we diligently and make big industrious effort instead of being stupid and always fcuking about like rapists, in just a few years we’ll almost be able to construct any object as complicated as not requiring more than five Lego bricks.
Remember once upon a time, and long long ago in our dreams we were more capable than the Chinese in constructing sailboats that went round the world – which the Indons said never happened…
Anyway, the moral of my story is we should dream big – but start and get stuck at Lego-size first. After that we should take the Lego bricks to under our coconut trees and look at them while we play the guitar. But we can’t do that if our thieving politicians steal the Lego and sell them.