POV

Superb documentary. A much needed antidote to the reporting of the mainstream business press and its complicity in promoting the perception of the "vast" middle class consumer in China.

by John
August 19, 2009, 1:28 AM

Watch it online? Parts I & II?

Ok, this is part III – where are parts I and II? And why can't I watch it online? I hate this website.

by Larry
August 19, 2009, 2:35 AM

Dr

There are a lot of errors in this article. The mall is located in Dongguan city, but not Guangzhou. Dongguan city is about 100 km away from Guangzhou. Guangzhou has one of the world largest and finest airport and it is linked to a very developed highway networks.

by Kelvin
August 19, 2009, 5:50 PM

Fascinating and Frustrating

Even though this film was short, it could have said more. It could have used a few less shots of the empty mall, and a few more minutes speculating on why it is so empty. Should we believe the mall manager that this place will soar in just a few years or the consultant who thinks it may be an unsalvageable mess? We understand that the mall is empty, very empty. Another shot of a deserted building doesn't tell us any more.

I did enjoy the clip of the Mall's promotional video sandwiched between the footage of the real mall. The canal workers were great too. The grand canal filled with sewage is a perfect metaphor for the mall itself. It's an illusion. Beautiful at first glance, disgusting on closer inspection. The closing shot of unintentionally insightful Engrish (Mandaringlish? Cantonenglish?) was great too.

Lastly, The title is a bit pretentious. I assume you are alluding to Sir Thomas More's Utopia (a novel in two parts).Even though the reference is somewhat appropriate, you aren't Thomas More and it was probably too subtle for most of your audience.

by Spence
August 21, 2009, 4:59 PM

Oppertunity

Why can't they build a resort around it? promote it like a tourist attraction -- make a dubai or singapore out of nothing. might be cheaper than running this forever. build schools, universities,make a charter city out of it.

by siddharth
August 22, 2009, 1:53 AM

The show was interesting, but the closing comment was out of sync with reality. The reason the Mall is a failure is not because capitalism failed.
It's because the man who built the Mall failed to do his homework and built the Mall as a monument to his "success". He didn't build his market in a place that had enough people to buy the stuff that's in it. A plain and simple lack of common sense and lack of wisdom. It works the same no matter what system you adhere to. If there's people to buy stuff, you'll sell stuff. No people, no sales. Duhhhhh.....

by Jan Shima
August 25, 2009, 5:43 AM

In person the place is stranger

I visited that mall in early 2007 (and as one poster says, it is in Dongguan, not Guangzhou, so the article should fact check a bit better).
Media hype about it being the 'world's largest' piqued my curiosity, so during one business trip to Dongguan I decided to check it out.
It was even more bizarre than this film captures. Though the interview with the filmmaker explains a bit more about the surreal, depressing atmosphere. At the time I visited, there was no canal - the plaza in front of the St Mark's replica was still a heap of rubble - literally - with the replica of St Mark's tower rising out of it. I'm surprised to see it was completed in the past 2 years.
I can only remember one operating store at the time - a KFC. In the plaza in front of the KFC was a merry-go-round ride, and several "game booths" - similar to what one would see in a small County Fair. Each booth was painted red and offered identical prizes: a tightly shrink-wrapped, stuffed panda bear. The only people there were uniformed school kids on some kind of outing. Also, very shocked to see foreigners there.
I think the "mall expert" brought in was being as candid as he could be, considering his employers.

by jw
September 1, 2009, 4:35 PM

I don't China is ready for malls

From the time I spend in China and shopping there I really don't think how any malls are survive there. It is not that Chinese people don't shop as suggested by many commenter here, but the idea of a Mall just don't really fly in China at least for now.

If you been to places like Nanjing Road in Shanghai, Wangfujing in Beijing, Beijing Road in Guangzhou (where the video misidentify to location of the mall) and Huangxin road in my middle of no where hometown of Changsha. There lots shops there, plenty of customer. However, these are type of artificial constructs at edge of city, but modernizations of traditional market place that already exists in these cities. Also, department stores in China often rent out their first floor to boutique shops and often builds right next to each other creating mini malls. Except their are in the middle of pedestrian zone in the center of the city.

Given all this, South China mall is doomed from the start. (same could be said about Jin Yuan Mall in Beijing, though it is considerbly better than south china mall) It local in the edge of the City with no suburbans to support it. (In China, city transition from urban to Rural very quickly, no bedroom communities in between) People live in the city would go their the city's shopping centers like Wangfujing or Chenghuangmiao, and farmers don't really in shop in China... Thus they become weird tourist attract rather than shoping malls. (I actually manage to find tour group offering half day tour of the mall for 48 yuan!)

btw, Dongguan, where the mall is actually built, is no means a small place in China. It is a city of 6 million, though 5 million of them are migrant work who would probable prefer the peddler market, or low end shops run on first floor of many residential buildings.

by xw
September 3, 2009, 3:59 AM

Not the first Chinese Mall

There was one mall in China that I know of that does well. It's the LuoHu Commercial City mall, in Schenzhen. You can get there by taking the train from Hong Kong to the LuoHu stop. It's a bootleg mall... almost everything there is bootleg. In addition, you can score drugs and a hooker there. I love it. No law there. And there are always lots of foreigners... I've chatted lots of Germans and South Africans there...

A truly interesting experience.

by Vincent James from New York, NY
September 4, 2009, 2:32 AM

soothsayer

Decades ago, in a faraway place by the bay, they built something called BART... they built many more facilities at the time than they used. Some of those continue to come into use even today, as the system continues to expand. That's planning ahead. Laudable, yes?
So: China builds a mall. Way too much capacity. I'm wondering, do the same people who read this "Part III" read anything else? Like a prediction of Chinas' future population? And what might that number be? Perhaps its assumed that China cannot also plan way ahead.

Perhaps this escapes capture in those who live in stagnant or dwindling population centers. That would be explainable. but I've lived in a state (AZ) that has experienced incredible growth. I've watched such things built "way out beyond" the edge of town. And now? The edge of town can't even be seen from there on a clear day.
Be careful with China. They did incredible things in the past 60 years. And what they will do in the next ten will make that pale in comparison. Can I hear some more scoffing, please?

by Wild Bill from tucson, A
October 9, 2009, 12:05 PM

Sloppy Fact Checking

Another minor quibble; the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN was never the world's biggest mall. It has an older, larger sibling in Edmonton, Alberta (The West Edmonton Mall) that was the world's largest until 2004. The WE Mall is currently the fifth largest.

by Keith from Minneapolis, MN
October 9, 2009, 1:50 PM

creepout mall

Creepy.
This planet is getting so surreal.

Guys who build places like this think they are 'creating',
yet they are actually destroying.

We are acting like a dying race.

by T. M. May from SF, usa
October 9, 2009, 2:47 PM

Capitalism is waste.

it was amusing to read of an american citizen in my locality recently decry the city council on a proposed business deal with China because 'they are COMMIES!'

by Kirk G
October 9, 2009, 7:50 PM

Wierd issue

OK. Reloaded the video and now the POV logo is not covering everything.
Used Firefox 3.5.3.

by Why
October 9, 2009, 9:08 PM

Reminds me of Gainesville, TX

The outlet mall there is nearly deserted now, even though its right by a highway and it used to be packed with businesses and customers.
Economic times change, and now people simply don't have money and just drive by. The food court is empty, the number of businesses left you can count on your hand, and its a testament to the empty promises of capitalism.
Theodore Roosevelt was right, the "simple life" is better for us all.

by Rick Cain from OKC, OK
October 10, 2009, 11:19 AM

Turning this mall around is as easy as abc!

I can easily turn this ghost mall around.
Please get the mall investors and management to email me fast.
Thank you.

by TJ
October 11, 2009, 1:48 AM

Fact Check This!

JW said:

"I visited that mall in early 2007 (and as one poster says, it is in Dongguan, not Guangzhou, so the article should fact check a bit better)."

Perhaps you should watch the vid. At 9:28 in, a maintenance worker refers to the area as Guangzhou. Is he wrong as well? You may have visited, but he lives there. I think I trust his take on the matter more than yours.

by Suffed Poodles
October 11, 2009, 10:05 AM

Reality

My reaction to this video is rather varied as I have lived, worked and am currently studying in China. After nearly five years in this country, spending time in both North and, currently, South China, I must admit that I have seen such malls all throughout this country---nowhere to this extent, but there nonetheless. The comments left by some reflect a truly ignorant view of the entire country as a whole (Thank you Vincent from New York), yet the comments left by most all seem to form together to represent the entire phenomenon as a whole.

China, in a way, almost needs places like this to act as goals to aspire to, because, in my experience, they almost always tend to end up gradually filling with people and in turn raising the standard of living for yet another group of hard-working, friendly people.

Then again, opening a mall like that in Dongguan does seem like business suicide. Maybe he was looking for a tax break or dishing out a little guanxi to his mates. Ya never know........

by CGM from Xiamen, Fujian
October 11, 2009, 10:24 AM

A sacrifice on the altar of growth.

I thought the sign at the end summed it up pretty well:
LARGE CHAIN BUSINESS INTERPRETATION OF QUALITY OF LIFE

There was also an ad that said they wanted to "change creature comfort into spirit comfort."

wow, what an unmitigated show of shallow materialist culture. I'll call it what it is: One of China's big stone heads, an altar to growth in a world with receding energy supplies - and a poorly planned one at that.

http://www.trav3ling.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/easter-island-04.jpg

by chris
October 11, 2009, 12:19 PM

28 Days Later Like

Damn... it really creeps you out.. There is a feeling of solitude throughout the whole thing... it really got me thinking if i should go and make business over there sponsored by chinas government... not a bad idea right??? although i know nothing about doing business in china... so theres a thinker... U get to wonder if this mall is ever going to fly... i really doubt it... unless the government really injects money to this...

by Marc from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
October 11, 2009, 12:49 PM

An imitation built by someone in the richest 1% of the population

Two things:
1- This is shopping mall is an imitation only. Bigger, nicer, mind boggling, but still an imitation. Something copied. Like a pirated CD. Imitations can only get so far, even if they are bigger and want to be better than the original. Something can not get more original than the original it was copied from.

2- This shows how far from earth the richest 1% of the population lives. This is how the world will look when the richest 1% will have purchased everything there is on this planet. But do not hold your breath, they will do like our friend in southern China and they will fail.

As someone said, it's not a failure of capitalism. It's the failure of a system which distributes the wealth only to the richest and takes everybody else for granted. Unfortunately the other 99% does not follow a script just because it exists in the mind of somebody in the richest 1%.

by mario taillon from montreal, quebec, canada
October 11, 2009, 5:44 PM

Surrealistic Journey

I have not seen this mall, but have been to many places like it on the Mainland on a smaller scale. It reminds me somewhat of the Venetian and other mall enclaves in Macau and I wonder how long this is truly sustainable especially if the gaming market ever faltered for any length of time?

Putting this mall in Dongguan was probably the first mistake. It is a city of migrant workers who do not earn anywhere near enough to support such a place. Had it really been built in Guangzhou near its brand new airport and extensive highway system (which it does have), it might have had limited success - but even then, its doubtful. I do not believe this mega mall would perform well in Hong Kong which is mall crazy, because this complex is just too large.

I do see some potential of the place being used for a Hollywood movie setting using a futuristic genre. Welcome to the Twilight Zone - China Style.

by Dennis H from Hong Kong,
October 13, 2009, 10:31 AM

Mr.

This is a very interesting story. Thanks. It reminds me of the International Bazaar built 50 years ago just across the street from the Port of Palm Beach, Florida. I was in the concrete business, and I thought this collection of formed and poured reinforced concrete structures with a strong Oriental motiff would last a century. But I was young, and I was wrong. Today there is no evidence of the Pagoda-like landmark tower that stood out on U.S No 1 at the entrance. I left before this magnificient structure was razed, and I miss it but must accept the fact that siome things survive and others don't. The world is fickle; you're in or out. Goodnight.

by Donald Clark from Fort Pierce, Florida
October 13, 2009, 6:41 PM

Mr

Wow ! They are still building the supermall and you already dismissed it being "utopia". It is a pity that you were not around when Uncle Sam was building the "American Dream". You would also shouted out "Utopia"!
Please make a video 10 years later about the wondermall. Maybe I am wrong.

by Eddy Widjaja from Semarang, Indonesia
October 18, 2009, 2:04 AM

Location Location Location

My first reaction was that they missed the fist lesson in capitalism: Location Location Location!

Also, when things succeed or fail this is not the failure of capitalism but it working perfectly. You can have all the "supply" you want but if there is no "demand" then there will never be balance.

Cheers!

by Daniel from Nashville, Tn
October 19, 2009, 1:55 PM

Re: Stuffed Poodles

Wikipedia shows it isn't in Guangzhou; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongguan.

Chongqing Municipality is 80 000km squared and has a population (officially) of 31 million people, yet Chongqing City 'proper' only has 5.2 million of these. Taken into account that it BORDERS the Guangzhou prefecture and that 5 of the 6 million inhabitants are migrant workers (and therefore aren't from there or know the zones or really care about them), why would you doubt it is a completely different city from Guangzhou, which, as mentioned has a superb airport and transport infrastructure?

A good reason the mall would have failed, apart from these transport/populations limitations is, the city is an export hub, the 4th largest in the entire country, meaning a) the workers are minimum wage factory types, b) products are sent out of the country, therefore it is not considered a place for in-country shopping.

And in reply to XW, it sounds as if you are, or have been, a resident of the PRC. If so, you'd know as well as anyone else here why malls aren't located in central areas, especially built on a large scale;

a) Construction and changes in city planning are never ending. What was there 6 months ago has been knocked down and replaced by something else today.
b) Shoddy construction and materials, which result in renovations every few years (which upset traffic flow and other city development) which is compounded by heavy and never ending traffic around (and sometimes under) the site.
c) Incredibly high properly costs.

The Chinese generally only go to malls/department stores to purchase luxury/foreign goods. These are ALWAYS much more expensive than their locally produced counterparts and as the average Chinese person isn't as rich as the average American (for example) they still tend to shop locally at markets or smaller supermarkets. This is compounded by the lack of copyright/patent enforcement which allow knock-offs to be sold on the streets, negating the need to go to 'New World Plaza' to buy the latest in Gucci handbags when you can get them (fake) off the streets for 1/100th of the cost.

This comment has been edited by the moderator for content.

by K-Rad from Wuhan, Hubei
October 28, 2009, 11:16 AM

Out of context

Something like this would be business suicide in the West, where workers standing around doing nothing is anathema to business success. In China, however, with 1.5 billion people and never enough jobs for all of them, despite the impressive growth, you can always find people willing to work for next to nothing.

As Reality alluded to, a number of business deals in China are done for reasons other than profit, not the least of which is building your "guanxi" or clout with politicians and other business people. The fact that the mall is in Dongguan suggests as much...

After all, the point of the mall was not to make money, but to express the power and influence of its builder, and it has succeeded perfectly. In a country very much in love with the idea of surpassing the West and particularly the United States in any and every way possible, having the worlds largest shopping mall under your belt is quite effective branding.

by Al from Harbin, Heilongjiang, PRC
November 1, 2009, 8:32 AM

Perhaps a silly project, but why should China be different. We almost had a $300 million "bridge to nowhere" and our government has completed thousands of other similar earmark projects that not only have no economic potential, but serve no purpose other than rewarding political contributors and generating more political contributions. Certainly, the total of all of these useless earmark projects vastly exceeds the cost of one Chinese mall which may, ultimately, be successful.

by Charlie from Keswick, VA
November 3, 2009, 2:31 PM