A new Happy Valley park opend in Chongqing on July 8.[Photo by Yang Feiyue/China Daily]

A new Happy Valley park in southwestern China may see Chongqing becoming a center for many such attractions. Yang Feiyue reports

Dancing cartoon characters, screaming visitors on roller coasters, and hospitable service personnel marked the opening day of a new Happy Valley park in Chongqing in southwestern China on July 8.

Covering an area of 500,000 square meters, the new facility is expected to give a shot in the arm to tourism in the municipality, says He Yousheng, a senior official with the local government.

It fills a void. There was no large-scale international theme park in Chongqing earlier.

The park is expected to draw 3 million visitors annually.

Many came from outside Chongqing to visit the park on the opening day.

A visitor surnamed Wu drove two hours from Guang'an in Sichuan province with her family.

"Although Chengdu also has a Happy Valley park, we're closer to Chongqing," says Wu.

She says her son had been pestering her to go since hearing of the park.