Wuhan - China's entertainment mecca

Wuhan

HERE in the industrial heartland of China, along the scenic East Lake and Yangtze River, a big swathe of land in the city of Wuhan once occupied by smoke belching factories and old houses is being laid as the groundwork for the Chinese leaders' top economic priority: the rebalancing of the national economy.

Over four years since 2010, a canal was duly dug up to connect two adjacent lakes to form an ecological reengineering marvel and an integrated modern entertainment district. All told, the developer, Dalian Wanda Group, China's largest mall and cinema operator that also owns the US's second-largest cinema chain, has spent more than 50 billion yuan (S$10.61 billion) to build this swanky entertainment mecca, its single largest piece of investment in China to date.