Window of the World - Identity for Shenzhen?

Window of the World is a theme park that replicates the world’s wonders in model forms, from the Eiffel Tower in France to Taj Mahal in India. It may seem like kitsch to the west, but for most Chinese who have never been outside the country, the theme park offers a glimpse to the outside world, just like the name suggested- “a window to the world”.

Window of the world, together with OCT’s other theme parks-Splendid China and Happy Valley, is an injection into the embarrassing title “cultural desert” of the Special Economic Zone. The ambition for collection seems to come out of a lack of cultural grounding of its own, Shenzhen wants to find some culture and identity from borrowing everybody else’.

So does the theme park represent a cultural identity for Shenzhen – “window to the world”? Shenzhen locates at the border of China, overlooking Hong Kong on the other side. So Shenzhen is China’s window to Hong Kong, then to the world; Shenzhen is a buffer from communist China to capitalist Hong Kong; The Special Economic Zone is a transition to the Special Administration Zone.

Some nuance I found while wondering in the park: Uffizi corridor, Arch de Triumph and St. Peters are laid out in a straight line, so at Uffizi you can see St. Peters through the opening of Arch de Triumph- Standing in Florence, you can see Rome through Paris. so maybe, Window of the World is not a complete kitsch, it best assimilates the world’s wonders but tried to re-plan them in a smart way.