Construction of Tongguan Kiln Park is under way, which is located to the south of Tongguan Kiln of Changsha National Archaeological Park, Hunan province. [Photo by Zou Lin/icswb.com]

Changsha, capital city of Hunan province, will soon prove to be even more joyous than before as several theme parks are slated to open one after another in 2018.

According to an annual report on theme parks by the consultancy firm Mintel, in the past 12 months, 42 percent of Chinese urban consumers have spent their vacation in a theme park for more than once with the value of retail sales brought in by theme parks across the country in 2017 reaching an estimated 39.55 billion yuan ($6.06 billion), a year-on-year increase of 27 percent.

Changsha's opening of several theme parks, which will not only diversify its local tourism industry but will also allow the Central China city to profit from the burgeoning leisure travel industry.

The Xiangjiang Amusement Park is the first world-class comprehensive tourism industry project in Hunan province, will include sub-projects such as a snow and ice world, a Huayi Brothers (HB) movie town and an amusement plaza.

The first phase of the HB town will allow tourists to 'travel' through medieval Europe within a model historical Italian town. The film town will be transformed into a zone of leisure, as it will feature movie shooting sites along with architectural appreciation of medieval European style buildings.

Another highlight is the 10-billion-yuan Tongguan Kiln Park, invested by the Macrolink Group, which aims to replicate the grandeur and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The park, located to the south of Tongguan Kiln of Changsha National Archaeological Park will feature ancient streets and towns, seven museums, a performance center, a commercial area and hotels. It is expected to open later this year in June.

In addition, another attraction which taps into the endless history of China is the "Beautiful China" Changsha Cultural Industry Demonstration Park; it is set to open in May, and will utilize a myriad of high-tech methods to display Chinese civilization through the ages.

Evergrande Group, a major real estate company, will also launch a "Children's World" theme park, on Changsha's Dawang Mountain, targeting children between the ages of 2 and 15. The "children-oriented, all-indoor and all-season" playground will include the ancient town of Tongxi, an amusement park, a botanical garden, the Evergrande football world park and a media exhibition.

Among them, the Tongxi ancient town which is situated close to the Xiangjiang River encompasses two Suzhou-style, two Anhui-style and one Sichuan-style business streets, allowing people in the central Chinese city to get a glimpse of life in the water towns.