Tianfu New Area · south Chengdu
The Global Center: a building with its own horizon
1.7 million square metres under one roof, opened in 2013, with a water park and a 5,000 m² artificial beach inside. Not beautiful, but genuinely hard to comprehend until you are standing in it.
Prices and hours checked 21 October 2026Wikipedia — New Century Global Center
What you are walking into
The New Century Global Center is a single multipurpose building in Tianfu New Area, south of the old city, completed in 2013. Its floor area is 1.7 million square metres, which makes it one of the largest buildings in the world measured that way — third largest, depending on which list you consult and how it counts connected structures. The base is 500 by 400 metres and the whole thing is 100 metres tall.
Inside, roughly 400,000 square metres is retail. The rest holds offices, conference space, hotels including an InterContinental with over a thousand rooms, an IMAX cinema, an ice rink, a 'Mediterranean village', and the reason most visitors come: Paradise Island Water Park, whose centrepiece is a 5,000 m² artificial beach facing a 150 by 40 metre screen that fakes sunrises and sunsets.
Size, access and what costs money
- Floor area
- 1,700,000 m²
- Footprint
- 500 × 400 m, 100 m tall
- Retail area
- About 400,000 m²
- Opened
- 1 July 2013
- Metro
- Line 1, Jincheng Plaza station, connected to the complex
- Water park
- Paid, separate ticket — check hours on arrival
Building figures checked 21 October 2026 against the Wikipedia entry citing the developer. The building itself is free to walk into; the water park, cinema and rink are paid attractions with their own hours.
What is actually worth your time inside
- 01
The water park's indoor beach
The one thing here you cannot see anywhere else: a beach under a roof, with a screen standing in for the sky. It is kitsch, it is enormous, and it is the reason the building exists as a tourist stop.
- 02
The scale of the atrium
Walk from one end to the other once. The distance is the exhibit — most visitors underestimate it and plan two hours for what is a twenty-minute crossing.
- 03
Skip the shopping
The retail is a standard Chinese mall at unusual size. Unless you need something specific, it is the least interesting part of the building.
Should you go?
It depends where you are staying. The Global Center is in the south, well away from the old-city sights, and a round trip on Line 1 costs you half a day. If you are in Chengdu for a week, or you are travelling with children, or you are staying in Tianfu New Area anyway, it is a genuinely strange and memorable hour or two.
If you have two days in Chengdu, skip it. Pandas, the old lanes and a teahouse are a better use of the time, and the Global Center will still be there — buildings this size do not go anywhere.
Questions people actually ask
Is the Global Center in Chengdu the biggest building in the world?
It is among the largest by floor area at 1.7 million square metres, usually listed third depending on how connected structures are counted. It is the largest single building of its kind in China.
How do you get to the New Century Global Center?
Take Metro Line 1 to Jincheng Plaza station. The complex is directly connected to the station, in Tianfu New Area south of the old city.
Do you need a ticket for the Global Center?
No, you can walk into the building and its mall for free. The Paradise Island water park, cinema and skating rink are separately ticketed.
Is the Global Center worth visiting?
Worth it if you have time and are curious about the scale, or if you are travelling with children. Not worth a half-day round trip on a two-day first visit to Chengdu.