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We also have a lot of volunteers who help out in SongSong Town as we invite kids who are disabled or from poorer families to come and play for free. We are currently working on an initiative called the Box of Love, where we ask kids to bring in toys they don’t need any more, clean them up and then we pass them on to kids living in poverty. Harbin is my home town, so I’m very passionate about this.
Added value One of the things that is great about our location is that we are in the centre of the city; you don’t have to drive for 45 minutes to get here. Before SongSong Town opened, daily peak guest circulation in the mall was 30-40,000, but now on weekends, it would be 60-70,000. Even in winter the guests can be 40,000 per day. In turn this has allowed us to increase the rent for the shops, so although SongSong Town makes lots of money there is added value for the mall. There have been people from more than 10 other cities come to visit us and learn from what we do, however I am not worried about them copying us. Sure, they could easily go to some other designer and do something that looks similar, but to create something truly like SongSong Town it needs to have stories behind it. My daughter lives in Los Angeles, that’s how we met
Thinkwell. I think at first they didn’t think I was serious, but last year we finished the design and this year we are open. The construction was quick but challenging because we had to keep the shopping mall open in the daytime, so all the work had to be done at night. I learned a lot from Thinkwell, and if others in China are looking for a designer I would definitely recommend them. I have a plan now to take SongSong Town to other cities,
like Beijing or Wuhan. Within three years I would like to have six outlets, licensed or partnered with local mall operators. We have lots of merchandise for sale in Harbin: SongSong Town plush, bags, badges, luggage tags, everything you can think of! As well as some books, we are also making an animated film featuring the squirrel characters with a focus on environmental protection. Somebody teased me that I want to create my own Disney in China, but really we are just a little themed garden inside a shopping mall.
Sang Hong is the president of Harbin Lesong Culture Development Co Ltd and was in conversation with Owen Ralph
The themed food court is very popular for ‘date nights’
The SongSong
selection SongSong Town is a 10,000 sq m themed fantasy environment offering a wide range of activities for small children and their parents. Here are some of the highlights: live show theatre; mirror maze (Adrian Fisher Design); mini Segways; bumper saucers (flying saucer-shaped bumper cars); Ride the Train (Wattman Trains); merry- go-round; pirate ship play structure with sand pit/ball pit; climbing wall; paint your own Chinese paper umbrella; sand art; clay sculptures; art classes; the art of chocolate; make newspapers; write letters at the post office; learn to read; digital drawing; make-believe tea room; barber shop; cafes, shops and birthday party room.
JANUARY 2016
ABOVE: This colourful pottery studio is one of dozens of activities kids can engagge in at SongSong Town ABOVE RIGHT: Mirror maze by Adrian Fisher
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