Currently, Hengmian Ancient Town fills Disney's Nighttime gap, the ancient town's homestays, restaurants, and cultural and creative industries can effectively increase business types.

According to the preliminary plan currently announced, In the future, it is possible Di sney elements will be cleverly integrated into the ancient town's texture in the form of character sculptures and cultural and creative experiences, creating a unique experience that blends Chinese and Western styles;

Boutique homestays and star-rated hotels are planned within the ancient town, complementing Disney's themed hotels and jointly building a complete overnight reception system. Through the in-depth development and scene creation of cultural IPs, the ancient town will not only be accommodation support, but also a natural extension of the Disney experience. In the future, it can deepen synergy through joint tickets, transfers, and event linkages, forming a 1+1>2 effect.

"Fairytale by day, fireworks by night" Disney's charm lies in its dreaminess, while the ancient town's charm lies in its fireworks. When Disney meets a thousand years of cultural accumulation, it injects new vitality into this cross-time and space "collaboration".

Image source: Meet Hengmian

1. Clever presentation of Disney elements in Hengmian Ancient Town

Characters (such as Mickey and Minnie, Duffy and his friends, puppets, sculptures, and shapes in the ancient town's design);

Cultural and creative experiences (Disney & traditional Chinese culture, intangible cultural heritage combination, presented in the ancient town's cultural and creative products and food);

Advertising (Disneyland, town, hotel advertisements, Hengmian provides advertising space);

Experience center (Disney authorized products, Disneyland exhibits or stories, providing a certain amount of display or sales space in the ancient town's commerce).

2. Disney seasonal and public welfare activities held in Hengmian

Hold special activities with Disney elements during the Mid-Autumn Festival, National Day, Spring Festival, and Qixi Festival;

Earth Month, ecological protection, wildlife protection, National Geographic, etc., public welfare activities;

Disney open-air film festival (such as holding a Disney-themed open-air film festival in the summer, creating an interactive festival between the ancient town and the park, and jointly creating a night economy).

3. Product and route packaging and marketing interaction

Design 1-2 day tourism and vacation products and routes around the theme of "Hengmian + Disney";

Launch preferential packages for the park and ancient town, and strengthen joint marketing and promotion through online and offline channels.

Hengmian Ancient Town covers an area of approximately 600,000 square meters and is jointly developed by state-owned enterprise Shendai Group and central enterprise China Jinmao. It is large-scale, larger than the existing Shanghai Banlong Tiandi (530,000 square meters) and Ruihong New Town (550,000 square meters).

The overall planning of Hengmian Ancient Town has been upgraded from "Four Parks in One" to "One Axis and Three Zones", connecting the Mianqing Park in the north, Hengmian Ancient Town in the center, and the rural water town in the south through the central water town axis.

In terms of functional planning, we should retain its appearance to the greatest extent possible, and then consider its relationship with the surrounding areas. For example, the southern landscape resources are very good, so they are planned as hotels; the north is closely connected to the Chuanzhou Highway, which can be used as retail commerce; the west is planned as resort hotels and integrated commerce.

Hengmian Ancient Town will build a "land, sea, and air" integrated transportation system, a design that fully considers the connection with Disney.

Road Tourism System It is divided into walking routes and graded driving routes. The walking route includes a 1.6-kilometer internal main loop + 8-kilometer detailed walking loop that connects the entire park.

The graded driving route on the west side retains the original planned road for orderly access to the ancient town and villages; on the east side: part of the original planned road and existing auxiliary roads are retained to improve connectivity and meet the transportation needs of the eastern part of the area, while also linking with Disney.

Waterways It will connect Mianqing Park and the Disney dock. Four loops, 11 docks, and a total length of 13.17 kilometers will be established. Each area can form an independent loop, connecting the core nodes of the region.

Using boats as a medium, connect the ancient town, countryside, community, and Mianqing Park to create a 2KM "progressive outdoor water town cultural performance" inner loop.

Connect Disney and the Hengmian area with waterway boat tours to create a 4KM "large vacation co-creation content closed loop" connection line.

Image source: Meet Hengmian

Skyway Will Establish Hengmian Ancient Town Station ， A total of 5 sections of skyway lines are planned, with 27 stations.

This innovative transportation design not only solves the travel problems of tourists, but more importantly, organically connects the two attractions, forming a "1+1>2" synergistic effect, allowing tourists to have a richer experience.

At the same time, Hengmian Ancient Town will also create its own core scenes, starting with the four cultural foundations of Hengmian and integrating with contemporary urban culture to create a local Hengmian IP. It will create "Hengmian Never Sleeps" Xuancheng night tour, creating an immersive night tour experience through "night tour holographic projection, AR, drones, and other technological means".

Launch scattered performances, Hengmian accommodation collection, water town day trips, and Hengmian sleepless nights, making up for Disney's "night economy".

At the same time, incubate a curator platform, introduce flagship stores, establish the Hengmian Art Center, and set up multi-functional compound cultural spaces, diversified exhibition spaces, and brand pop-ups.

It is foreseeable that the completion of Hengmian Ancient Town will bring multiple values:

In terms of cultural inheritance, it will become a model of contemporary expression of traditional culture and provide new ideas for urban renewal.

In terms of tourist experience, it is expected to extend the average stay time of Disney tourists from 1.5 days to 2.5-3 days, improve Disney's micro-vacation product system, and meet the leisure needs of citizens on weekends and during short holidays;

Construction Plan

The project is currently progressing steadily. If the land transfer conditions are favorable, the first phase will be ready for construction in 2025, and investment promotion will officially begin in the second half of 2026 (some brands are already in contact). The entire construction is expected to be completed in 4 years in three phases. The first phase is the 5-1 plot demonstration area (including star hotels and commercial areas) and the J-Farm modern farm.

The core charm of Hengmian lies in its authentic Jiangnan charm, which will become a place for tourists to immerse themselves in the soothing Oriental aesthetics after briefly leaving the fairy tale.

South Zone - Oriental Lecheng

Land cleared. Expected to start construction next year.

On May 26, 2025, the Pudong New Area Key Area Promotion Conference revealed that the south zone of the Shanghai International Tourism Resort - Oriental Lecheng has reserved land with a total area of 2.77 square kilometers for large-scale development and construction. Currently, except for the rental housing for Disney employees, which is about to be topped out, the rest of the 2.77 square kilometers is cleared land, and construction is expected to officially start in 2026.

Oriental Lecheng is positioned to be a city leisure and vacation resort dominated by high-quality vacation and leisure, trendy activity experiences, and international cultural creativity. It plans to attract tens of millions of tourists, create approximately 30,000 jobs, and accommodate 17,000 residents. In terms of spatial layout, "Oriental Lecheng" consists of "three major zones and ten groups". The eastern zone is a science and technology cultural experience area, including digital content research and development, digital content experience, and shared living area functional groups. The central zone is a performing arts experience area, including cultural tourism and commercial experiences, cultural performances, and themed hotel functional groups. The western zone is a health and vitality area, including resort hotels, waterfront commercial entertainment, high-end residences, and ecological vacation and leisure functional groups.

Source: Shangguan News