Sweden's most bizarre tourist attraction is up for sale – again
Have you always dreamed of owning an enormous Chinese-style building next to Sweden’s main motorway? You’re in luck, for Dragon Gate is again on the market.
Driving along the E4 motorway from Uppsala to Gävle on Sweden’s east coast is like this: forest, forest, forest, forest, GIANT CHINESE CONCRETE BUILDING, forest, forest, goat on fire.
The Dragon Gate saga began in 2004, when Chinese billionaire Jingchun Li bought the former Hotel Älvkarlen with the aim of turning it into a hotspot "where east meets west".
But the building remained unfinished, with only a restaurant, museum (featuring an army of 200 replica terracotta soldiers) and a souvenir shop opening to customers at the time.
The construction of the hotel finished in 2014, but couldn’t open due to not meeting Sweden’s fire regulations, among other things. A few years later Li left Sweden, having fuelled 200 million kronor into the project, and the building was left practically deserted.
In 2017, it was bought up by Swedish construction development group Sisyfos.
Its biggest mark on Dragon Gate was to organise a techno festival at the venue, which vowed to be the culmination of “years of struggle” and to “go down in history”.
Then came the pandemic and the building was again left empty.
It is now again up for sale, reports regional newspaper Upsala Nya Tidning (UNT).
The price tag is 40 million kronor.
“We need someone who is as crazy as we were,” co-owner Thomas Sonesson told UNT.
Public broadcaster SVT reports that Dragon Gate has in fact been up for sale for a year, with buyers not exactly lining up for the chance to try to turn fortunes around for the building.
“We have to find the right buyer who wants to develop the project for the future,” Sonesson told SVT.
Comments
See Also
Driving along the E4 motorway from Uppsala to Gävle on Sweden’s east coast is like this: forest, forest, forest, forest, GIANT CHINESE CONCRETE BUILDING, forest, forest, goat on fire.
The Dragon Gate saga began in 2004, when Chinese billionaire Jingchun Li bought the former Hotel Älvkarlen with the aim of turning it into a hotspot "where east meets west".
But the building remained unfinished, with only a restaurant, museum (featuring an army of 200 replica terracotta soldiers) and a souvenir shop opening to customers at the time.
The construction of the hotel finished in 2014, but couldn’t open due to not meeting Sweden’s fire regulations, among other things. A few years later Li left Sweden, having fuelled 200 million kronor into the project, and the building was left practically deserted.
In 2017, it was bought up by Swedish construction development group Sisyfos.
Its biggest mark on Dragon Gate was to organise a techno festival at the venue, which vowed to be the culmination of “years of struggle” and to “go down in history”.
Then came the pandemic and the building was again left empty.
It is now again up for sale, reports regional newspaper Upsala Nya Tidning (UNT).
The price tag is 40 million kronor.
“We need someone who is as crazy as we were,” co-owner Thomas Sonesson told UNT.
Public broadcaster SVT reports that Dragon Gate has in fact been up for sale for a year, with buyers not exactly lining up for the chance to try to turn fortunes around for the building.
“We have to find the right buyer who wants to develop the project for the future,” Sonesson told SVT.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.