Fun for generations
In 1986, Mickey Mouse, donning a pair of bright yellow shoes and red pants, debuted on the state-owned China Central Television (CCTV) in a cartoon series called "Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck."
According to an agreement reached by CCTV and The Walt Disney Company, the 104-episode series was broadcast every Sunday evening, with no rebroadcasting allowed.
"The Mickey Mouse series was the most impressive animation of my childhood. It made Sunday more special," said Ice Li, an IT worker in Beijing, adding that entertainment programs for children were extremely scarce at that time.
"The stories avoided sermonizing like some Chinese cartoons. But I often felt inspired after a hearty laugh," Li said.
"I never felt tired of watching Mickey Mouse and his friends on TV, and sometimes I even ignored supper," said Zhang Ling, a 31-year-old housewife in Shanghai.
The series ended in 1988, upsetting the Chinese audience aged three to 70, said Xu Jiacha, a former CCTV executive in charge of children's programming.
"We received numerous complaint letters," Xu recalls. "We didn't have the money to buy the rebroadcast rights, so I wrote a letter to our US partner, enclosing copies of two complaint letters. They made an exception, allowing us to rebroadcast the series for free for half a year."
Huang Jiayun, Zhang Ling's daughter and a Mickey Mouse lover, is apparently luckier than her mother, who could only see the cartoon star on television.
The eight-year-old girl is spoiled with choice, as she can choose to read a Mickey Mouse-themed magazine, buy garments and stationery with the mouse's image from franchised dealers, or meet him online at the click of a mouse.
Richer Chinese
Disney cartoon stars hold popular appeal for children all over the world, as they transcend national boundaries and language barriers, said Ding Chun, a professor with the International Economic Research Institute of the Shanghai-based Fudan University.
"However, Disney entertainment was undoubtedly a luxury when food and clothing remained a challenge," Ding said.
Chinese people's desires for Disney culture flourished as the country's per capita gross domestic product (GDP) surged to about $4,000 from less than $300 three decades ago, he said.
In the 1980s, very few Chinese traveled abroad, said Jiang Wei, a media worker in Shanghai. "If your destination was the US or Japan, local friends would probably offer you a tour of a nearby Disneyland, which was seen as a nice 'gift' for the guests who came all the way from China."
Today, flocks of Chinese tourists can be seen in Disney theme parks around the world, but especially in Hong Kong Disneyland.
"I clearly remember that every retail store in the park was crammed with tourists speaking Mandarin. I had to elbow my way out," said Ice Li, who visited Hong Kong Disneyland in August 2009, when mainland children were enjoying summer vocation.
The theme park welcomed more than 5.2 million visitors in 2010, 42 percent of which were from the Chinese mainland. The number of visitors from the Chinese mainland surged 32 percent year on year.
Earlier this year, the Walt Disney Company announced that it would open its first wholly-owned shop on the Chinese mainland in 2012.
"China remains one of our most important overseas markets, the revenue in the Chinese market doubled in the past five years," said Stanley Cheung, Managing Director of The Walt Disney Company, Greater China.
Xiao Lin, deputy head of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, said that the Disney project, one of the biggest investment projects in the service industry on the Chinese mainland over the past 30 years, will facilitate the formation of Shanghai's new industrial structure which puts a service sector at its core.
According to an analyst report produced by the research institute under the commission, the project is expected to directly or indirectly drive up more than 100 sectors in Shanghai. Tourism, modern commerce and trade, culture as well as shipping and logistics sectors will benefit most from it.
The Shanghai Disney Resort is expected to bring 18 billion yuan in annual revenue to the city's tourism sector, and another 6 billion yuan to the modern commerce and trade sector, which nearly adds up to the investment of the theme park, the report says.
