This is the story behind China’s abandoned $300 billion dollar failed mega theme park — a surreal, unfinished world that some say feels like a real-life Squid Game set.
Built by Evergrande, one of the largest real estate companies in China, this massive theme park was once part of a $5.5 billion vision to rival Disneyland. The plan was to construct fifteen “Fairyland” parks across the country — blending Chinese mythology, futuristic rides, and bold architecture into year-round family destinations.
But behind the fantasy was a much riskier strategy. These parks weren’t just about entertainment — they were tools to gain land and fuel real estate profits. Evergrande borrowed heavily to fund its rapid expansion. By 2021, the company collapsed under more than $300 billion in debt. Construction froze, and the Fairyland dream faded before it ever became reality.
In this video, I explore one of the most haunting remnants of that dream — an abandoned theme park in Jiangsu province. Castles remain unfinished. Pirate ships sit lifeless. Mascots stare into nothing. The park’s exterior was nearly complete… but the inside was left hollow and forgotten.
You’ll learn the full story of how this ambitious project came to be, why it failed, and what might happen to this site in the near future.
What was once built to bring joy now stands as a monument to ambition, risk… and silence.
Steve Ronin explores an abandoned Evergrande Fairyland park near Shanghai, detailing the rise and collapse of a $5.5 billion plan to rival Disneyland, and what
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Steve Ronin takes viewers on a haunting tour just outside Shanghai of a vanished dream: China’s Evergrande Fairyland theme park, a colossal project meant to rival Disneyland but left unfinished and shuttered after Evergrande’s massive debt crisis. The video explains how a bold nationwide plan to build fifteen Fairyland mega-parks funded by debt collided with reality, leaving behind ghostly castles, deserted pirate ships, and a town that’s slowly being reclaimed by nature. The explorer walks through near-complete exteriors, abandoned shops, and overgrown streets, drawing parallels to both Disney and a real-life Squid Game aesthetic while underscoring the project’s true motive as a land grab wrapped in entertainment. Throughout, Steve notes the social and economic forces at play: a booming early 2010s market, government support for job creation, and the risky, unsustainable debt that sealed the parks’ fate by 2021. The video also reveals the park’s current state—empty halls, unfinished p
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China's Abandoned $300B Squid Game Theme Park in Jiangsu
This is the story behind China’s abandoned $300 billion dollar failed mega theme park — a surreal, unfinished world that some say feels like a real-life Squid Game set.
Built by Evergrande, one of the largest real estate companies in China, this massive theme park was once part of a $5.5 billion...
Exploring China’s Abandoned Fairyland Theme Park: The Evergrande Debts
Step into a chilling, unfinished world that echoes the eerie atmosphere of Squid Game. This video unveils the story of China's colossal $300 billion failed theme park, a testament to Evergrande's ambitious but ultimately disastrous real estate empire. Once envisioned as a rival to Disneyland, this abandoned 'Fairyland' in Jiangsu province now stands as a silent monument to broken dreams, with its skeletal structures and lifeless attractions telling a haunting tale of unchecked ambition and financial collapse.
More about the current video:(Published on 2025-07-14)
Just outside Shanghai, a forgotten theme park still stands. Once meant to rival Disneyland, now it’s swallowed by silence. Built by Everrand, part of a bold 5.5 billion vision to transform China’s entertainment industry. But this dream collapsed under the weight of over 300 billion in debt, leaving behind abandoning castles, lifeless pirate ships, and a future that never came. In this video, I’m taking you inside of Everrant’s lost parks to explore its hidden history and discover what’s left behind. Some say it looks like Disney. Others compare it to a Squid Game set. This isn’t fantasy. It’s real. And what’s left will surprise you. the early 2010s saw a China booming middle class and growing appetite for entertainment. Disney’s Shanghai park sparked a land grab frenzy as Everrand and others built massive Fairyland chains. The scheme relied on debt; by 2016 there were over 2,000 parks across China, but profits were rare. Everrand amassed over 300 billion in debt and collapsed in 2021, freezing construction and leaving a pastel ghost town in Jiangsu. The exterior was near complete, the inside hollow, and nature reclaiming the space. The explorer notices riverine marsh, overgrown campuses, and remnants of a railway, imagining how the park might have functioned with a real train connection and night-time lights. He encounters local people and bullfrogs, shares interactions with a BNP-like set of workers, and reflects on the social risks of large-scale real estate entertainment projects. He also finds a squatter’s living space and muses about safety, mosquitoes, and the authenticity of the abandoned dream. The video ends with gratitude to collaborators and a farewell to the Fairyland project, noting its demolition but celebrating the story it leaves behind. Steve Ronin invites viewers to comment on favorite moments and to subscribe for future explorations. He also teases more abandoned wonders in China and pays tribute to the local explorer Bin Burbex Brin. This transcript captures an emotional walk through a dream that could have been, a cautionary tale of ambition and debt, and a vividly human encounter with history in the making.
FAQs (From the traveler's perspective)
Q: What happened to Evergrande Fairyland?
A: It was part of a bold plan to create a nationwide chain of mega parks but collapsed after the company’s debt crisis, leaving unfinished attractions and demolished plans.
