Disneyland's successful breakthrough into the Chinese mainland territory once again reminds us Chinese traditional culture has been further marginalized and there is an urgent need to save our culture from oblivion.

La Jiang (people.com.cn): What is Disneyland? It is a representative of U.S. pop culture. When Shanghai Disneyland is completed, there will be six Disneylands in the world, four of which (Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai) are located outside the United States. It is unreasonable to have such a craving for an entertainment facility that is losing its vigor and is being abandoned in the West. We are in effect taking in trash nobody wants.

We can still recall vividly the disputes between China and the United States several years ago when they wrangled about conditions for China's accession into the World Trade Organization. One of the biggest issues back then was to what degree China should open its cultural market. The opening up of the cultural market should be handled with a great deal of discretion, as it is nothing similar to what happened in industries such as automaking and banking. When Westerners build up car factories or open bank outlets in China, local Chinese businesses indeed suffer big impacts, but the entire economy is rewarded with rapid growth. But in terms of culture, ours could become totally devoured and abandoned, which would be a huge disaster.

It is estimated that the Shanghai Disneyland needs a direct investment of 24.48 billion yuan ($3.58 billion), which will lead to a total investment of more than 40 billion yuan ($5.86 billion) when the surrounding city infrastructure and supporting commercial facilities have been completed.

This investment could be totally justified if our country were deep-pocketed and had impeccable social welfare, cultural, education, transportation and infrastructure systems, and if people in the remotest areas lived affluent lives. But the truth is the people's ledger is unbalanced in those aspects, and it is complete vanity to build such an extravagant park when many children cannot even go to school or hospitals.

The 40-billion-yuan investment is 29 times the investment in China's Chang'e-1 unmanned lunar orbiter. Not to mention how much the 40 billion yuan can do for poor children. Is it really necessary to use such a huge amount of money to buy an American entertainment program that only offers a brief period of hedonistic pleasure?

Wang Xinmin (qq.com): According to the agreement, even if the Shanghai Disneyland is not commercially profitable, the Chinese partner should still give hundreds of millions of yuan to Walt Disney Co. in management and franchise fees every year. If the park generates profits, the U.S. company, by linking the Shanghai theme park with intellectual property rights, can obtain 43 percent of the earnings on top of the before-mentioned management and franchise fees, which means half of the profits will go into the pocket of Walt Disney Co.

Rather than pay a huge tribute to a foreign company, we should build our own super theme park with an independent animation brand—because only a cultural industry with a unique national flavor can grab a foothold in the international market.

Shanghai is one of the most influential metropolises in China, and its Pudong area is a priceless arena for creating a super cultural industry with distinctive Chinese characteristics. We should not give away this precious land to some foreign cultural brands, and should rather create a Chinese cultural industry equivalent to Disneyland.

Good Opportunity

Guo Zhichun (Yanzhao Metropolis Daily): Although the public has expressed doubt in many areas about the Disneyland to be built in Shanghai, I don't think we should challenge it from a cultural standpoint.

The world's biggest theme park was originated in the United States, but it does not necessarily stand for American culture. In fact, it provides a variety of amusements and entertainment items in an attempt to earn money. The essential purpose of Disneyland is making a profit rather than plotting against Chinese culture.

Although embedded in American culture, Disneyland does not represent anything unhealthy or evil. We don't need to bother too much about its negative influence upon China.

What's more, we should acknowledge there exists forms and values in culture and entertainment beyond national limits. It is a great enjoyment when children are carried away by amusing items and adults are able to experience their childhoods again in Disneyland. So please don't label these pleasant enjoyments Chinese or American. It is Disneyland, a park, that's all.

Wei Yingjie (China Youth Daily): Disneyland's arrival in Shanghai is more than a business operation, it is an injection of cultural values. After decades of development, Mickey Mouse has won wide recognition among consumers and cartoon fans and become an indispensable part of consumer culture. It is like water and air to mankind for children all around the world.

As a matter of fact, Disneyland is the result of cultural exporting rather than a tool. It looks profitable and charming on the surface but what is behind is a complete set of ideas and experiences that cannot be fully mastered in a short time, and takes a large investment and down-to-earth operation.

What lures Disneyland to Shanghai is a huge potential market. China should also use it as a golden opportunity to accelerate its own cultural industry. If we can take a lead from our forerunners' experiences, China's animation industry will catch up with the advanced countries sooner or later.

Zhang Lianhong (qq.com): At the moment, China's animation industry is still in an underdeveloped state and needs to learn from its more advanced counterparts around the world. Walt Disney Co., the world's most prestigious animation company, boasts top animation creation and production. In its classic profit model, it is able to make vast amounts of money from cartoon movies and affiliated products. In this sense, Disneyland's move in Shanghai will offer good opportunities for its Chinese counterparts to learn and become inspired.

Ever since Disneyland was set up in Tokyo, it has fared well and Japan's animation industry has not suffered any negative impact. That is to say Disneyland's arrival will not have a deleterious effect on China's animation industry. On the contrary, it might even exert a positive influence on the local animation industry.

In fact, China's animation industry cannot live without outside competitors. Young as it is, learning from its predecessors is a must.

Lu Hanlong (China Business News): Cultural interaction, be it assimilation or dissimilation, has its own course. In this age of rapid and transparent information sharing and communication, the fear of foreign culture is only a display of lack of confidence. We should not be that sensitive. Disneyland not only carries the ideals of American culture, but also conveys emotions such as happiness, joy, sorrow, passion and friendship shared by people on Earth. Those emotions have no boundaries and they exist in every culture.