“Evangelical Chinese billionaires have created the world’s first biblically proportioned Noah’s Ark which opened this week in Hong Kong.

The Noah’s Ark at Ma Wan Park in Hong Kong is a tourist attraction built by the Kwok brothers (pictured below), who are behind Hong Kong’s largest real estate developer Sun Hung Kai Properties.”

The message in its 450-foot-long hull, its rooftop luxury hotel and 67 pairs of fiberglass animals: “The financial tsunami will be over,” says Spencer Lu, the Kwoks’ project director at Noah’s Ark.

The land-bound ark wasn’t built in response to the current global turmoil; it has been in the planning for 17 years.

But the financial storm provides a nice marketing hook for the Kwoks’ ambitious project, which will probably need to lure visitors from beyond Hong Kong‘s city limits to be an economic success.

The attraction has all the goods to keep kids distracted for the day and, aside from the menageries of animals, you’ll find a 4-D cinema, rope courses and rock climbing at Noah’s Garden and a host of interactive exhibits.

Organizers say the ark is not meant to be viewed in a religious light, they just wanted to remind people — through a story known around the world — about the worth of certain values, such as loving thy neighbor, respecting the environment and to have a little hope in these troubled financial times.

However, the Ark was funded by a number of religious organisations and it’s been claimed that the presentations and educational information on site are creationist.

See www.noahsark.com.hk for details.

Via Wall Street Journal – Luxist