An aerial view of Shanghai Disneyland Park, which is scheduled to open to the public on June 16 Photo: IC

As the Chinese mainland's first Disney park kicks off ticket sales on Monday, Chinese scalpers are already running a thriving trade in tickets, some of which are being hawked at 1,600 yuan ($246), triple the official price.

A rough search for Shanghai Disneyland tickets on Chinese e-commerce giant Taobao on Sunday yielded some 250 results, with prices ranging from 1 yuan to 1,600 yuan.

"We began to sell tickets about one month ago. You can prepay for tickets which will be delivered by the end of March," one Taobao shop owner told the Global Times on Sunday, claiming that over 1,000 tickets have been sold. Another shop owner claimed that tickets for the coming June, July and August are sold out.

The park's official ticket price will be 370 yuan per person during weekdays and 499  yuan on weekends, Beijing Daily reported. Tourists can book tickets on Shanghai Disneyland Park's official website, its official WeChat account and at authorized online shops beginning at 12 am on Monday.

Several Taobao shop owners reached by the Global Times on Sunday pledged their tickets' authenticity. While some explained that they will help customers book tickets when official sales begin, others claimed that they were selling coin certificates that will be exchanged for tickets.

While an ID card check is required for entry to the park, one Taobao shop owner claimed that their tickets will only require a check of visitors' cell phone numbers and names.

The park has denied selling tickets for "trial operations," after some netizens tried to sell tickets for early access to the park, thepaper.cn reported.

As the first Disney park in the Chinese mainland, Shanghai Disneyland Park is expected to receive a huge number of tourists when it opens to the public on June 16. Many Net users have expressed their hopes to visit the park, which they expect will be cheaper than a trip to Hong Kong, where China's first Disney park was built.