As President Xi Jinping’s government looks to tame China’s celebrities, the popularity of a new Universal Studios theme park in Beijing shows Hollywood’s enduring soft power among the nation’s 1.4 billion people.
Tickets for the grand opening on Monday, priced at 638 yuan ($99), sold out within 30 minutes of going online last week — as did rooms costing as much as 20,000 yuan at the resort’s two hotels, according to state-run media. Fliggy, an online travel site operated by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., last week apologized for overselling the 500 yuan Universal Express Pass that lets visitors skip lines.
The surging demand underscores the challenge Xi faces in dampening the appetite for celebrities among the general public, as the Communist Party looks to curtail foreign influences and promote the concept of "common prosperity.” A commentary published widely in state-run media last month warned against "fan culture” and "worshiping Western culture.”
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