Illustration: Peter C. Espina/GT

As the millionth tourist capered into the dream world of Mickey Mouse and Snow White in Shanghai, Chinese real estate and entertainment mogul Wang Jianlin declared a theme park "war" with Disneyland, whose first entertainment complex in the Chinese mainland is about to fully open to the public after a wildly popular trial run.

In an interview with China Central Television a week ago, the helmsman of Dalian Wanda said "the craze for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck is over." Wang asserted his ambition to build a number of massive theme parks across China, which will compete with Disneyland in the Chinese market. Wang said his wolf-pack tactics will prevent Disney from making a profit in China for 20 years.

In remarks at Saturday's opening ceremony of his first theme park in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, Wang elaborated on his motives to stand against the father of amusement parks. He said he wanted to move away from Western cultural imports and build a global brand on the basis of Chinese cultural elements. This "Wanda City" in Nanchang, complete with rides, shopping malls and an aquarium, cost Wang $3 billion. The massive complex will find more counterparts in other 14 cities by 2020. The second one is coming next month in Shanghai.

Wang's ambition may seem like a long shot, but given that the company that bought AMC and Legendary Pictures in stride has deep pockets, the plan is not impossible in the short term. But compared with Disneyland's 60-year-old established pattern of cashing in on its globally-renowned intellectual properties (IPs), Wanda's establishment of a theme park empire from scratch is quite challenging from a long perspective.

Wanda's takeoff synchronizes with China's reform and opening-up. As a role model of private-owned company, Wanda has leverage as a late mover in the international competition, because it is more flexible and open-minded to enter an emerging industry. But due to a lack of a strong foundation, late movers share a problem with sustainable development and progressive innovation.

Wang claims that Disneyland will probably be burdened by repetitive use of the same IPs, but behind the amusement park, Disneyland is actually a factory of creation, where talented artists never cease making up popular new fairytales and characters. Their popularity is passed down from generation to generation till they become a standard part of modern mythology. Disneyland is far more than a group of cartoon characters and glittering castles. It is an organic system that generates pleasure and fulfillment.

Once the preconception is entrenched among the public, it will be extremely hard to change. It is the power of culture. From a broad view, Wanda's endeavor to change the perspective of the Chinese over amusement parks will be a confrontation between the hard revival of Chinese culture and the assertive dominance of Western culture.

In the process of challenging Disneyland, Wanda has to consider the rise of the Chinese middle class, who are the main visitors to amusement parks. The enormous group will be the key to Wanda's success in amusement parks. The emerging Chinese middle class has shown unprecedented interest in Western way of life and the process of "dreamwork."

With their consumption ability ramping up, the Chinese middle class has become the favorite of both internal and transnational capital. Western brands, especially those mass-market brands, have worked hard to get into the good graces of the Chinese middle class. This connection will make such values, such as the consumption philosophy of the middle class, be a universal view adopted by the society.

The Chinese have embraced Disneyland. This makes it much harder for Wanda to change people's minds to enjoy a more Chinese-styled amusement park. No one will question Wanda's ability to invest substantially into the already competitive amusement park industry, but sometimes mere money and publicity can't solve all problems. Meticulous attention should be given to the transformation of people's minds. Wanda needs to do more.

The author is an editor with the Global Times. liuzhun@globaltimes.com.cn Follow us on Twitter @GTopinion