HLM – Chapter 896 Building the Amusement Park

Dale was happily playing on the train, but Wang Bo noticed a project.

The amusement park was currently crowded with visitors, and a billboard displayed a scrolling message: the park wanted to open a branch, and interested parties could discuss a franchise.

Seeing this message, Wang Bo became intrigued.

Sunset Town lacked an entertainment venue. For a town that leaned on tourism and entertainment, such a facility was essential.

The best entertainment venue, naturally, would be Disney’s entertainment complex—but that was impossible for Sunset Town. New Zealand didn’t even have one, and if it did, it would be in Auckland, not here.

Ordinary amusement venues didn’t appeal to Wang Bo. Nowadays, people wanted unique experiences; a generic park had no vitality, and that wasn’t Wang Bo’s goal.

Seeing this Christmas-themed amusement park, however, he found it quite appealing.

A few years ago, he had spent every Christmas in Sunset Town, but this year in Rovaniemi, he realized that celebrating Christmas in its authentic form was truly the most fun.

New Zealand couldn’t offer a genuine Christmas—the climate and weather simply didn’t allow it—but Wang Bo knew that New Zealanders, especially children, longed for such a traditional Christmas.

For kids, Christmas shouldn’t be under blazing sun or while sweating profusely. It should be snowy, with reindeer pulling sleighs and Santa Claus.

Wang Bo sensed that building a successful Christmas amusement park in Sunset Town would surely attract many customers.

New Zealand was a sufficiently large consumer market, and its neighbor Australia was an even bigger one!

Seeing Dale having fun, Wang Bo waved and then took Eva to meet the staff, heading to the amusement park director’s office.

The park’s office building was also filled with childlike charm. It mimicked the style of Neuschwanstein Castle, with electric Santa Clauses and elves at the entrance, and several children playing with them.

The director was a middle-aged Finnish man named Saibo Nuolemi, warm and full of childlike enthusiasm, just like his work.

When introducing himself, he said, “My surname might be difficult for you to remember, so if you want to call me Snoopy, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Eva shrugged. “Oh, no, we’ll remember your name, Saibo. I recall a heroic blacksmith in the Finnish national epic Kalevala who had a similar name, right?”

Saibo laughed. “Wow, you surprised me! Madam, you actually know Kalevala. Yes, my father was a blacksmith, and when I was born, he expected me to become a blacksmith too. If I could be a heroic blacksmith, that would be perfect.”

Eva said, “But you’ve taken a path that surprised him. I believe he would be proud. You may not have become a heroic blacksmith, but you’ve become a hero in the eyes of many children.”

Saibo was delighted by the compliment, and the conversation flowed easily after that.

Wang Bo introduced himself and shared his idea: building a Christmas-themed amusement park in Sunset Town.

Upon hearing this, Saibo became even happier. He said, “Mayor Wang, you’re Chinese? That’s wonderful! I must tell you, we’ve just partnered with your country. We’re constructing such a park in Chengdu, so we already have experience in cooperation.”

Wang Bo perked up and asked eagerly, “How does your cooperation work?”

Saibo explained, “It’s a project between the Rovaniemi government and the Chengdu government. We provide a Christmas amusement park, and the Chengdu government considers building a panda park at the Ranua Wildlife Park.”

The Ranua Wildlife Park was another local tourist attraction, located an hour from Rovaniemi. The park housed typical Finnish and Nordic animals—50 different species, over 200 animals, including bears, Finnish polar bears, lynxes, wolves, wolverines, and moose.

However, due to Finland’s special climate, foreign animals struggled to thrive here. Currently, the only immigrant species in the park was a Swedish polar bear.

Wang Bo didn’t know much about the park, so Saibo introduced it to them.

Seeing that they hadn’t visited Ranua, Saibo strongly recommended, “You should take a look. The scenery is beautiful. There’s a 2.5 km viewing route that passes through various animal zones where you can see many wild animals.”

He added, “There’s also the JussanPirtti restaurant, a candy shop, and a souvenir store. If you visit, I recommend going at night; the animals are more active then.”

Wang Bo thanked him and began asking about cooperation options.

The Rovaniemi-Chengdu project was obligatory on Rovaniemi’s side, aimed at securing panda exports. Sunset Town wouldn’t have such benefits. Wang Bo reflected that China’s greatest treasure abroad might well be the giant panda: a symbol that could help build diplomacy, exchange for policy support, trade oil or gas, and even amusement parks.

Saibo said, “We have different cooperation options, depending on what interests you. One option is that you choose the park’s style and scale, provide funding, and we supply manpower, materials, and resources.”

“Another option is that we provide the blueprints and technical support, and you hire your own construction team. This way, it costs a bit less.”

Wang Bo asked, “How much would the investment be for each option?”

Saibo considered and replied tactfully, “Why don’t I first show you the model, so you can see what projects you want, and then I can tell you the price?”

Wang Bo thought this was a bit annoying—but unsurprising. This kind of project certainly wouldn’t be cheap. If it were, the Finnish temperament would have let them get straight to the point. The only reason they didn’t? They didn’t want to scare away potential clients.

Next to the Neuschwanstein-style office building was a model room, containing a miniature of the park. Building a new park meant copying this large park or parts of it.

“The first section is the Land of Polar Night. These are the ice houses—rooms within rooms—where you can look up and see the dazzling aurora. Beautiful, right?” Saibo explained.

The aurora was the park’s biggest selling point. Wang Bo had personally experienced it: gazing at the stars and northern lights through heated glass ceilings with someone you love was intoxicating for any couple in love.

Eva asked, “Are these auroras artificially created?”

Saibo nodded. “Yes. In practice, we replicate Nordic ice houses to scale, then use fabric-screen projection and 3D reconstruction technology. With VR glasses, you can see the aurora just like in real life.”