New Century Global Center

The New Century Global Center in the Tianfu New Area is one of the more extraordinary buildings in the world — a single structure so large it contains an indoor beach resort, multiple shopping malls, two luxury hotels, an IMAX cinema, an ice rink, and an aquarium. The artificial beach (Ocean Paradise) has a simulated sun that rises and sets, palm trees, wave machines, and a water park.

Whether you consider this a marvel or a horror depends on your relationship to scale and artificiality. As an index of 21st-century Chengdu's ambitions, it is invaluable. The ice rink and cinemas are convenient; the beach resort is genuinely bizarre. Take Metro Line 1 to Tianfu Square South, then transfer to Line 1 toward the new area. Free to enter the mall; attractions require tickets.

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When it opened in 2013, the New Century Global Center briefly held the title of the world's largest single building by floor area — 1.76 million square metres, enough to fit 20 Sydney Opera Houses. It was immediately and almost universally described as overwhelming, excessive, and somewhat bewildering in its combination of shopping mall, fake beach resort, ice rink, hotel, and office tower under one roof. The indoor artificial beach has a simulated sunrise and sunset lighting cycle. Chengdu, characteristically, considers this an attraction rather than a warning.

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