It was supposed to be a guarantee of success.

The world’s biggest mall, in the world’s most vibrant region - the Pearl River Delta, in the world’s fastest growing economy hosting the world’s most populous region… but sometimes, everything can be right, and it still didn’t work…

Mall of misfortune - The National Newspaper

The big attraction of the South China Mall was supposed to be its “foreign” design. Learning from Las Vegas, where replicas of European monuments and New York landmarks draw throngs of tourists, the Dongguan mall modeled seven zones after various exotic world locations. Its rooftops reflect at least twenty different influences, from Czech town halls to Turkish mosques.