{"id":1185,"date":"2011-02-23T18:00:19","date_gmt":"2011-02-23T10:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mdnphoto.com\/blog\/?p=1185"},"modified":"2020-09-23T15:21:31","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T15:21:31","slug":"south-china-mall-the-empty-temple-of-consumerism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/2011\/02\/23\/south-china-mall-the-empty-temple-of-consumerism\/","title":{"rendered":"New South China Mall: The Empty Temple of Consumerism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism011.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism011.jpg\" alt=\"A lone security guard watches over one of the empty courts at the South China Mall.\" title=\"A lone security guard watches over one of the empty courts at the South China Mall.\" width=\"950\" height=\"633\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1197\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"paragraph\">\n<p>A local billionaire built it, and they did not come. The South China Mall was the most ambitious and largest retail space every conceived in China, if not the world, when it opened in 2005. Constructed smack in the middle of the Pearl River Delta between Shenzhen and Guangzhou, about 4 million people live within six miles of it, 9 million within twelve miles and 40 million within sixty miles. Nonetheless, six years later, the South China Mall only maintains a 1% occupancy rate at best. This unabatedly empty temple to consumerism remains unfinished on top floors and is only sporadically visited thanks to the attached amusement park, Amazing World. For the time being dust and dismembered mannequins reign over the 6.5 million square foot venture. Although China might be the fastest growing consumer market in the world, the South China Mall reveals the vulnerability of this burgeoning economic giant. Also, check out this <a title=\"Utopia, Part 3: The World\u2019s Largest Shopping Mall\" href=\"http:\/\/video.pbs.org\/video\/1218530801\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">short film<\/a> done on the place by Sam Green.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism002.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism002.jpg\" alt=\"Mannequins and shelving are all that remain of a shuttered clothing store in the South China Mall.\" title=\"Mannequins and shelving are all that remain of a shuttered clothing store in the South China Mall.\" width=\"950\" height=\"633\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1188\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism003.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism003.jpg\" alt=\"Much of the retail space in the South China Mall remains unfinished and layered in dust.\" title=\"Much of the retail space in the South China Mall remains unfinished and layered in dust.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligntriplel size-full wp-image-1189\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism009.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism009.jpg\" alt=\"The empty food court at the South China Mall.\" title=\"The empty food court at the South China Mall.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligntriplec size-full wp-image-1190\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism005.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism005.jpg\" alt=\"Much of the retail space in the South China Mall remains unfinished and layered in dust.\" title=\"Much of the retail space in the South China Mall remains unfinished and layered in dust.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligntripler size-full wp-image-1191\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism004.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism004.jpg\" alt=\"Some people still take boat rides on the canal winding through the empty South China Mall.\" title=\"Some people still take boat rides on the canal winding through the empty South China Mall.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligntripler size-full wp-image-1195\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism007.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism007.jpg\" alt=\"Four abandoned mannequins are all that remain in this retail space at the South China Mall.\" title=\"Four abandoned mannequins are all that remain in this retail space at the South China Mall.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligntriplec size-full wp-image-1193\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism001.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism001.jpg\" alt=\"A child and his parents play with remote control cars in the main hall of the empty South China Mall.\" title=\"A child and his parents play with remote control cars in the main hall of the empty South China Mall.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligntriplel size-full wp-image-1187\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism006.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism006.jpg\" alt=\"A security guard patrols the empty halls of the South China Mall on a bike.\" title=\"A security guard patrols the empty halls of the South China Mall on a bike.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligntripler size-full wp-image-1192\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism010.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism010.jpg\" alt=\"Advertising lightboxes remain empty at the South China Mall.\" title=\"Advertising lightboxes remain empty at the South China Mall.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligntriplec size-full wp-image-1196\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism008.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/20110208_south_china_mall_temples_of_consumerism008.jpg\" alt=\"The seven-floor parking lot of the South China Mall remains empty.\" title=\"The seven-floor parking lot of the South China Mall remains empty.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligntripler size-full wp-image-1194\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A local billionaire built it, and they did not come. The South China Mall was the most ambitious and largest retail space every conceived in China, if not the world, when it opened in 2005. Constructed smack in the middle of the Pearl River Delta between Shenzhen and Guangzhou, about 4 million people live within [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6,7],"tags":[61,79,102,133,186,365],"class_list":["post-1185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consumerism_category","category-counterfeit_paradises_category","category-development_category","tag-business","tag-china","tag-consumerism","tag-dongguan","tag-guangdong","tag-south-china-mall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1185"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3118,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions\/3118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewniederhauser.com\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}