[15], The mall has seven zones modeled on international cities, nations and regions, including Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Venice, Egypt, the Caribbean, and California. If you find the above article inaccurate or biased, please let us know at [email protected]. Also, check out “Kangbashi, Ordos – Ghost City? (Remko Tanis / Flickr). When the South China Mall opened in Dongguan in Guangdong Province in China in 2005, the Chinese, as well as the foreign media, celebrated it as the largest mall in the world. Also, only a minuscule percentage, as compared to the entire population, is wealthy enough to splurge on luxury goods for the snob value. According to an Emporis in 2012 it has 600,153 m2 of gross leasable area. (David290 / Wikimedia Commons). The bus fare for this distance is not cheap. (David290 / Wikimedia Commons). 1.South China Mall (659,612 m 2) South China shopping centre, in Dongguan, China is the biggest shopping centre on the planet when estimated as far as a gross leasable zone, and second regarding all out region to The Dubai Mall (which has broad non-shopping space including a zoo, a lodging complex and an amusement park). 4.67 reviews(3) Sexy Sleeveless Spaghetti V-neck Split Front … [12], In 2013, Vagabond Journey writer Wade Shepard wrote about his recent visit to the mall. Yes, the researchers who conducted the feasibility study appear to have believed that people would come daily from these cities. One such hiccup was the South China Mall, a massive retail project that failed to live up to its potential. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. It became apparent that the mall was a losing proposition and the Western media began to deride the place as a colossal failure. Mr. Hu’s company spent over $1.3 billion in constructing the mall. South China Mall. Upon opening, South China Mall became the largest mall in the world, surpassing the Golden Resources Mall. Another aspect that the mall developers overlooked is that the Chinese are, in general, savers not spenders. [10][11] The 2007 makeover was orchestrated by Founder Group, which took over the property from the original owner Hu Guirong in December 2006. True, it has reached the pedestal of being the world’s largest mall but it fails to convince me as the territory includes wind mills and theme parks, which to me sounds nothing less than but being over smart. [13][14], Its total area is 892,000 square metres (9,600,000 sq ft),[7] with almost 660,000 square metres (7,100,000 sq ft) of leasable space[1] sufficient for as many as 2,350 stores. The project was spearheaded by Hu Guirong (Alex Hu[5]), who became a billionaire in the instant noodle industry. (Remko Tanis / Flickr). However, South China Mall was also built as a theme park in a way. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. It retained its crown as the largest mall in the world until the Dubai Mall overtook it in terms of area size. As China makes its way towards becoming an economic power to reckon with, it is inevitable that it will encounter a few hiccups along the way. The much-publicized crowd of 200,000 plus people per day never materialized. In any case, the idea of building the largest mall in the world appealed to the Chinese government as well. After opening in 2005, the mall suffered from a severe lack of occupants. The now abandoned South China Mall. Over the next ten years, the stores that had leased space in the mall closed or went out of business, and over 99% of the mall space remained empty. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. They just made out the loan to Mr.Hu. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. South China Mall opened in 2005 and for more than 10 years it was mostly vacant as few merchants ever signed up, leading it to be dubbed a dead mall. For example, a US size medium is a size 88-90 or 165-170 in China. South China Mall (Chinese: 华南Mall; pinyin: Huá nán) in Dongguan, China (formerly New South China Mall) is the largest shopping mall in the world when measured in terms of gross leasable area, and second in terms of total area to The Dubai Mall (which has extensive non-shopping space including a zoo, a hotel complex and a theme park). Kangbashi, Ordos – Ghost City? The final design of the mall included seven international zones where shoppers could experience the thrill of walking through replicas of the European cities of Amsterdam, Rome, Venice, and Paris, not to mention through faux versions the Caribbean and Egypt. In 2015 a CNN story reported that the mall had begun to attract tenants after extensive renovations and remodeling, though large portions still remained vacant. To get there from Dongguan, the city residents must travel for about two hours and, moreover, change a few buses to complete the journey. These cookies do not store any personal information. There are many large malls in those regions. He claims the mall has a 20% occupancy rate … It has leasable space for over 1,500 stores in approximately 7.1 million square feet of gross leasable area and 890,000 square meters of total area. Default Sorting; Best Sellers; New Arrival; Low Price; High Price ; Long Short-Sleeves Prom Sequined Stunning Evening Gown. In September 2007, the Founder Group changed the mall’s name from ‘South China Mall’ to ‘New South China Mall’ and hoped for the best. Given the amount of international publicity that the mall’s opening had generated, they couldn’t very well let the mall fail. [2][8] The only occupied areas were near the entrance where several Western fast food chains are located and a parking structure re-purposed as a kart racing track. The tenants didn't jump ship; they never even came on board. He also noticed that 4 full floors of the mall were unused, and that the water of the artificial indoor canals had turned green. [7], Coordinates: 23°2′15″N 113°43′14″E / 23.03750°N 113.72056°E / 23.03750; 113.72056, List of the world's largest shopping malls, "Chinese 'ghost mall' back from the dead? Features include a 25-metre (82 ft) replica of the Arc de Triomphe,[7] a replica of Venice's St Mark's bell tower,[2] a 2.1-kilometre (1.3 mi) canal with gondolas. For all practical purposes, the largest mall in the world is not even on the radar of most people in Dongguan. Among the 15 largest malls in Asia, the smallest in size, Sunway Pyramid-Malaysia, is still 196,000 square meters larger than Aviapark. (Milowent / Wikimedia Commons). It is very likely that the loan approval was influenced to a great extent by a feasibility study carried out by Guangzhou’s SMR Group. The artificial canal outside New South China Mall.