With 150 million people living within 300 miles of the new Disneyworld, Hong Kong offers a new and exciting challenge for the Disney organization. With the new theme park, this is Disneys first forey into China, a country whose standard of living is increasing exponentially and whose population  is growing just as fast.

The opening comes six years after Hong Kong’s government and the California-based Disney agreed to jointly develop the $3.5 billion project.

Hong Kong was in the doldrums at the time, and desperately wanted to add some glamour to its economy — known for banking, investment, shopping and shipping — now it was in Chinese hands.

To give Hong Kong a helping hand, China in 2003 allowed its nationals to travel to the city of 6.8 million people.

Since then, floods of mainland Chinese have flocked to Hong Kong picking up brand-name goods from its luxury malls, crowding to its jewelry stores and eating out at its myriad restaurants.

Hong Kong’s tourism board said it expects 27.14 million tourists in 2006, a 15.9 percent jump over 2005, and officials say they expect the park to bring in $19 billion over 40 years, and create 35,800 jobs over 20 years.

The world’s best-known entertainment company is counting on these increasingly affluent mainland Chinese tourists in its third international venture, and its second in Asia after Japan. It is also hoping it can export its magic to China, where there is no deep knowledge of its culture.

The Detroit Free Press explains one of the unique features of the park:

A heavy dosage of all things Disney aside, Hong Kong Disneyland offers a rare expanse of space and lush greenery in a densely populated territory better known for its towering skyscrapers than wildlife.

The park is a landscaping achievement, reproducing a slice of America with Asian accents.

The driveway leading to the park entrance is lined with tall palm trees, and Adventureland mixes palm trees with bamboo fences, torches, rock formations, straw-thatched roofs and a fake jungle river in what resembles the set of the TV show “Survivor.”

Long open-air shelters that make up the bus depot are decorated by old-style lamps and rotating fan blades hanging from the ceiling, creating the feel of a saloon in the old American West.

At 310 acres, Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney park in the world, but Disney says expansions are planned. One addition already lined up is the Autopia car ride in Tomorrowland.