China’s First Full-Scale Immersive Domestic Animation Indoor Theme Park Opens in Shanghai;

 Offline Immersive Parks Become Core New Growth Track for Chinese IP Industry

On July 25, Le·See Dimension, China’s first large-scale immersive indoor theme park centered on domestic animation, officially opened at Yingyuanshe in Metro City, Xujiahui, Shanghai. The project gathers four top-tier Chinese animation IPs: The King’s Avatar, Under One Person, Lord of the Mysteries and Dao Gui Yi Xian. Covering a total immersive space of 2,500 square meters, the park leverages cutting-edge digital technologies including roaming VR, holographic light projection and mechanical interactive sets to fully replace the traditional static comic exhibition model. Its launch marks a pivotal industry shift: Chinese animation has expanded beyond online content into immersive offline theme parks, creating a replicable benchmark for long-term IP commercialization and integrated culture-tourism-commerce development in China.

1. Core Hardware & Tech Innovation: From “Watching Animation” to “Stepping Into IP Universe”

Co-hosted by Mita Culture, licensed by Yuewen Group and jointly operated by Shanghai Film Group’s Yingyuanshe, the park took an 18-month construction effort by elite global theme park engineering teams. It houses over 8,000 customized props and more than 30 layered interactive experiences, extending immersive IP scenarios from indoor exhibition halls to outdoor public plazas across the entire shopping mall:

1. Differentiated Themed Zones with Exclusive Digital Tech for Four Major IPs

• The King’s Avatar: 1:1 full reconstruction of Happy Internet Cafe and Ye Xiu’s residence, equipped with deformable mechanical Thousand Machine Umbrella and esports speed-test booths to recreate competitive gaming narratives;
• Lord of the Mysteries: Surrounding sound fields, interactive holograms and dynamic elevator mechanisms restore the mysterious “Above the Gray Mist” dimension;
• Under One Person: Real-life replicas of Longhu Mountain and Biyou Village with triggerable character skill interactions;
• Dao Gui Yi Xian: World’s first exclusive roaming VR experience debuts, delivering first-person immersive access to the novel’s surreal fantasy realm as the park’s flagship technological highlight.

1. Mall-Wide Integrated Consumption Ecosystem Immersive IP experiences are not confined to the 6th-floor venue. Giant character sculptures, pop-up installations and themed decorations cover Metro City’s outdoor plaza and all retail floors. A stamp-collection campaign links exhibition tickets to exclusive discounts at catering and merchandise stores, forming a complete consumption chain of “visit-explore-check out-shop” and driving substantial cultural tourism consumption for Xujiahui commercial district this summer.
2. Symbiotic Fan Community Operation to Boost Long-Term Stickiness Hundreds of cosplayers gathered spontaneously on opening day, with regular character parades and fan co-creation events scheduled throughout the exhibition period. The park builds a sustainable fan loop: on-site experience → online sharing → secondary creative content, solving the low retention pain point of one-off traditional exhibitions.

2. Core Industrial Trends: Immersive Offline Parks as the Second Growth Engine for Domestic Animation

For years, China’s animation industry relied heavily on online subscription, digital advertising and basic peripheral merchandise, leading to monotonous revenue streams and short IP monetization cycles. The launch of Le·See Dimension delivers four definitive transformation trends, outlining the core future direction of the domestic animation sector:

Trend 1: Format Upgrade – Static Exhibitions Transformed Into Full Theme Park Experiences

Traditional offline animation events are limited to poster displays and merchandise sales, offering one-way passive viewing. In contrast, immersive indoor parks adopt complete theme park operational logic, integrating plot interaction, digital real-scene tech, character parades and competitive gameplay. This extends visitor stay time and drastically boosts repeat visits. Industry analysts note lightweight indoor animation parks balance construction cost and immersive depth, suitable for shopping malls nationwide — a differentiated alternative to capital-intensive outdoor mega theme parks.

Trend 2: Full-Lifecycle IP Value Realization

Domestic animation IPs generally face rapid revenue decline once online popularity fades. Offline immersive parks create a two-way value loop: visitors unfamiliar with original works develop interest through in-person experience and return to stream animation online, while online fan base fuels continuous foot traffic to offline venues. Shanghai city-limited co-branded merchandise further combines local urban culture with animation IPs, expanding derivative development boundaries and unlocking long-term IP asset value.

Trend 3: Standardized Replicable Model via National Tour Plan

The opening ceremony unveiled the annual Le·See Domestic Animation Season initiative, featuring three scalable systems:

1. National Theme Park Tour: The Shanghai premiere runs until October 18, covering summer and National Day golden travel seasons, after which the mature immersive solution will tour cities nationwide;
2. IP + Localized Development Framework: Each stop integrates local history and urban symbols into exclusive scenes and limited-edition merchandise to avoid repetitive content;
3. Cinema + IP Compound Venue Template: Leveraging Yingyuanshe’s innovative “cinema plus” business model, the project proves traditional cinemas can be renovated into mixed cultural spaces for animation and film IPs, revitalizing underutilized commercial venues.

Trend 4: Digital Interactive Technology as Core Competitive Edge

VR, naked-eye 3D holograms and dynamic mechanical installations are no longer supplementary add-ons, but core content pillars of animation parks. Digital tools overcome limitations of physical set construction, cut large-scale scene reproduction costs and align with aesthetic preferences of Generation Z, forming a unique competitive barrier built on the triad of “original IP + digital technology + physical space”.

3. Long-Term Industrial Significance & Future Outlook

1. Pioneering Chinese-Style Immersive Animation Park Paradigm Distinct from capital-heavy overseas animation theme parks, this project establishes a China-specific immersive model centered on lightweight indoor spaces, multi-IP collaboration and localized operation. It delivers a mature template for future domestic original IP offline rollout across the country.
2. Expanding Culture-Tourism Integration & Youth Consumption Immersive animation parks precisely target core consumers aged 18–35, linking shopping malls, cinemas, retail and catering to lift overall commercial footfall and revenue. They emerge as new cultural tourism growth drivers for cities during summer and national holidays, supporting the construction of youth cultural landmarks.
3. Diversified IP Long-Term Strategy to Strengthen Industrial Risk Resistance Offline parks convert short-term trending animation IPs into permanent physical cultural assets, diversifying revenue portfolios and reducing industry reliance on online traffic. The sector will continue accelerating investment in immersive real-scene spaces and offline theme parks, evolving from pure animation production into a full industrial ecosystem covering “content creation – online operation – offline immersive parks – all-category derivatives”.

Lin Weisi, Chairman of Mita Culture, stated offline theme parks are not short-term marketing events, but long-term strategic carriers for domestic animation. The company plans to expand IP cooperation portfolios, iterate VR and AI interactive technologies, and speed up national tour rollouts, bringing Chinese animation from online screens to physical cultural spaces in cities across the nation.