World's largest (and mostly empty) shopping mall -- you might be surprised.

Click here for more information.

reply to post by Zosynspiracy


At least the Chinese people know that they are not free. Americans think they still are.

reply to post by dean007


China is booming in the metropolitan areas so yes, many Chinese are able to afford things just like the rest of the civilized world.....In fact, probably moreso now than most of the people that I personally know here in the US.

And you really can't effectively post here on ATS if you're going to let words like "gonads" get to you. Check the T&S because i'm fairly certain that you just violated it with your language.

reply to post by dean007

do the Chinese even make enough money to even have any to spend at a mall if your only paying people pennies you cant expect them to come around throwing out dollars does a meal at Macdonald's cost 8 dollars like it does in Canada it would take them like 3 days labor to buy a supper for 1 at mcdonalds

I can tell someone has not been to China lately. The middle class here have money and in quantity. Can we say BMW, Benz, Toyota, Honda, GM, Porsche just to name a few in the car line not to mention the exotics. Oh and BTW, they pay cash for them. Come to the local mall and see consumerism at its finest!! But don't expect to see them using a credit card when they buy an item. Yes they do have credit cards but use cash for most purchases.

I feel sorry for you having to pay 8 dollars for a super at Mac D's, it costs me about 3 dollars here in Zhongshan. Yep we got KFC, Subway and Pizza Hut too. Mater of fact we have more products from around the world available to us than the US has. China is not exactly what you think it is.

reply to post by CriticalThinking


Wah wah wah. America's and China's economy are fake.

Originally posted by Zosynspiracy
The Chinese are weird people, especially when it comes to their taste. Moreover, if they were smart instead of emulating and trying to out do the United States they would be wise to learn from our mistakes. China is a linchpin for the NWO and nothing more. The Chinese can take their shark fin soup and fur trade and shove it up their arse.

The Chinese are a developing nation, the same as the rest of us - and yes, they will make mistakes, the same as the rest of us. I am baffled why you refer to them as being 'weird' simply because they are not exactly the same as yourself. Your country has crapped all over them (and others) by selling on your bad debt - and you still think you're better than them. Grow up, get your head out of your own arse and smell the coffee - the world does not revolve around the USA. What amazes me even more, is that your post was flagged.

S & F Thanks for posting this video - imo it is far more significant that the current comments indicate

They have built a "consumer temple" which, let's face it, consumer avarice, greed and desire (the beast) is the real religion in the West.
To most of us, this "religion" has been so normailised that we can't even comprehend any other way of life

Assuming incomes in the surrounding area would allow (even small) expenditure in the mall - but they are still not willing to attend this "temple" then we have to accept that there is some far deeper cultural/spiritual difference that transcends economics.

China refuse to get on the capitalist treadmill, as long as they do they cannot fall slaves to yet another reigime that we in the West should be questioning ourselves.
I wonder how long it will be until they are forced to give a percentage of their income to McDonalds, Starbucks etc etc etc

Wow, cool little film.

But there's a lot that isn't making sense for me.

Presumably the guy who built it had a lot of money, made from successful business.
So how did he decide that building this in such a pace, without the accompanying major transport links, would be a good idea?

Suggesting he just wanted to be the object of pride doesn't cut it, because business failure, especially in China, certainly doesn't bring admiration and pride!

I really do believe there is some major corruption involved here. Somewhere the people are paying for this.

What do I think the future holds for this place? Ideally it would be split into housing, recreation and commerce, at bargain prices that the people can afford.
At least then there will be some justification for its existence. It would become its own miniature city.
But, knowing how authority and waste go hand in hand, it'll rot.

Definitely would love to see what it's like in a decade.

I am quite surprised at that clip. If that mall is by Ghangzou (sp?) then it has access to huge populations, so was it the transport system that was non existent or what?
All they have to do is put a monorail in from Hong Kong/Ghangzou/South China Mall and they will be ok. Seems simple to me. Then offer shops a year rent free for a 5 year contract.
I think there should be a think tank beside the canal

All this thread has turned into is pseudo-patriots bashing each others nation. A few good points were raised though. For one, China is falling into the same trap as seen in Las Vegas and Dubai. I like to call it the three-toos: too much, too quickly, too soon. (For an interesting look at the situation in Vegas, click here).

Although someone did raise the issue that China should have looked to the current situation in the US of what NOT to do with large-scale development, we have to remember that a project this size is not developed in one month. That is to say, the current world economic downturn was not foreseen when this project was started, and certainly not when it was in it's planning stages.

I predict that while the World gets back on its feet, that this mall will continue to sit stagnant and unused. However, China will not allow this project to go to waste, and will probably be able to sustain it until it is more viable for major world companies to set up shop there.

I wish them all the best.

[edit on 10/11/2009 by prototism]

reply to post by silent thunder


like it said in the beginning, all they need is a freeway or airport, no freeway or airport and no business.

Businesses operated such as this mall are normal in a system of socialism and communism. Many places like this (far from biggest in the world though) existed in Serbia, Russia, Libya, Cuba etc. They end up abandoned and left for nature to take over.

To further prove my point, take a look at these dramatic pictures:
englishrussia.com...

You will see why Soviet Union collapsed, picture says more than thousand words.

That system functions via debt as well as US capitalism does with its federal reserve. The system can only work for as long as its slaves will obey, the huge stagnant businesses like that mall are standing on the back of the people.
The communism of China is bound to collapse sooner or later, it simply cannot function because it is a painfully obvious fraud which only relies on people's will to subject themselves to extreme slavery. When people of China realise that communist party is a brain-infecting parasite world will be a better place.

That is why your own federal reserve cannot function, if it continues to print money to support stagnant and non productive businesses, people will realise sooner or later that their living standard can only go worse and worse after a certain point.
Some major corporations in US are working same as that mall, but not as apparent. The mall of China may look creepy, but what in reality is way, way more creepy are huge insurance and loan corporations which make billions in US by exploiting the concept of federal reserve.

To conclude, the point is that capitalism of US is NOT capitalism for the last hundred years, it is a subtle and perfected socialism with only one aim - to serve the elite, be it communist party, democratic party or republican party. All those parties are parasites which like in nature, infect the host and eventually kill it. Solution to this problem is not revolution, or government-less society or some other radical move, but a change towards greatly improved education and people *actually* having a vote in everything.

How about the little green telly tubby ripoff that was prancing around the mall? It was clearly a cheap knockoff. This a state sponsored project isn't it? Does that mean the Chinese government openly endorses counterfeit products and copyright infringement?

I hate to shop and really hate malls, but I love carnival rides and Chinese food, so this mall would be a perfect place for me to spend a day!

It does seem to be large enough to make into a small city. Have everything under one roof.

Heck, it's bigger than the tiny town I live in. Serious!!

wonder how much it would take to convert like half to 2/3rds of the storefronts into relatively cheap apartments....that would help it out, have a village in the mall at all times, and no doubt the rest of the shopspace would fill up to if anything, cater to the tenants (and tenants would be working at those places more than likely...at least the younger ones)

Guangzhou is China´s third most populous city with an official 9,764,500 million inhabitants, some estimates going up to over 15 million.
Only Shanghai and Beijing are bigger.

It is bigger than America´s biggest city.

Certainly there would be enough people and money to spend in the mall.

en.wikipedia.org...

Maybe a good idea at a bad time. At one time in the near recent past, there was a huge growth of "new wealth" in China because of booming and increasing worldwide business and consumerism, but now all of that has changed. There as so many people in China; many of them did only make a little money but at the same time many "had" started to amass wealth. So just really bad timing.

Originally posted by WeAreAllGod
How about the little green telly tubby ripoff that was prancing around the mall? It was clearly a cheap knockoff. This a state sponsored project isn't it? Does that mean the Chinese government openly endorses counterfeit products and copyright infringement?

LOL - yeh, I noticed that about the "knock off" Teletubby.

Originally posted by CanadianDream420
I live in Alberta, Canada.

How big is West Edmonton Mall?
It's biggest in Canada, for sure. I thought 3rd in the world?

I'm from Edmonton, Alberta and the WEM is more than just the "biggest in Canada" my Canadian friend. According to Forbes.com (last year), it's the biggest mall in North America:

West Edmonton Mall
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Year Opened: 1981
Gross Leasable Area: 3.8 million square feet

The biggest in North America, the West Edmonton Mall has over 800 stores, along with attractions like a water park, skating rink, casino and rides.

Let's not forget the sea lions, lemurs, skateboard park, and life-size pirate ship!

Wikipedia confirms this and states that the WEM is the 5th largest in the world.

So even though it doesn't hold the world top 3 ranking any longer, at least it's still the biggest on the North American continent.