Jackie Chan to open 'JC World' theme park

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/19/jackie-chan-theme-park

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Jackie Chan is to bring his own theme park to Beijing, China, titled JC World, the Hong Kong martial arts star has revealed.

Speaking at a media event in the city, Chan said the park would centre on his famed collection of historic Chinese sandalwood houses. The actor was recently criticised on Chinese social media for donating three examples to a university in Singapore; the remaining seven will now be assured a future in China.

Chan was otherwise unclear on exactly what else visitors to JC World might expect to find inside his proposed park, almost a square mile in size, in Beijing's Yizhuang district. He did reveal it would be split into five sections, each offering a different "cultural experience". Entrance to the park will be free, though certain attractions will carry a charge that Chan intends to use to maintain the sandalwood houses.

"I want to exhibit all my stuff. They may not all be worth a lot of money, but they may have a story behind them," Chan told reporters. "I was very poor when I was a child, so when I had money later on, I bought all sorts of things and went around the world collecting them." The actor is also believed to have amassed impressive collections of jewellery and furniture over the course of his career, which began at the height of kung fu's 1970s popularity.

Theme parks are becoming increasingly common in China. Disney will open an enormous resort in Shanghai in 2015 which has been 15 years in the planning, while the world's first Angry Birds park recently opened in Zhejiang province in the country's far east. Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks plans a resort titled the Dream Center, featuring cinemas, shops, restaurants and hotels, for 2016, also in Shanghai.

Chan's most high-profile upcoming Hollywood role will be an appearance in The Expendables III, the upcoming latest instalment in Sylvester Stallone's popular 80s action throwback saga. He will join an ensemble cast that already includes Stallone, Jason Statham, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Kelsey Grammer and Wesley Snipes.

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