Hong Kong to Open Asia's First Snoopy Theme ParkHong Kong will open a Snoopy theme park next month -- the first of its kind in Asia, a spokeswoman said Thursday.The park, dedicated to the black and white dog from the Peanuts cartoon strip, will take up a 40,000 square-foot (3,600 sqaure-metre) area outside a shopping mall in the New Territories town of Shatin. It will be opened in August and admission will be free, the spokeswoman for Sun Hung Kai Properties said. Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Hong Kong Tourist Association said, "We will help to promote the park in the overseas market." Built at a cost of some three million Hong Kong dollars ($386,000) over a period of 18 months, it will be the second Snoopy park in the world -- the other is in California. The park will have six playgrounds and a house dedicated to the creator of the comic strip Charles Shulz, who died in February. Snoopy mania hit Hong Kong in 1998 when US fast-food chain McDonald's ran a promotion giving away free plastic Snoopy toys. Hong Kong's passion for cute dolls is reflected in the staggering success of the Japanese brand Hello Kitty here. The ubiquitous white cat complete with bows is to be found on mobile phone cases, door mats and even credit cards in Hong Kong. |
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