A theme park and resort development that has been tabled since 2011 is thought to be finally going ahead, Attractions Management understands.

The project, Monkey Kingdom, was reported as having a budget of US$1.5bn (£986m, €1.4bn) at the time and was slated for completion in 2014. The project was originally planned for the outskirts of Beijing in the Honglou Lake tourist area of Huairou District. It is not clear if this is still the planned site.

The development was masterplanned by Thinkwell Group and based on the 16th-century Chinese classic Journey to the West. The story – one of the country’s most famous canonical works – follows the adventures of a monk and a monkey called Sun Wukong. The countless characters they meet in the story serve as the inspiration for the theming and attractions design for the park.

Zhonghong Real Estate Company, part of Zhonghong Group, investors in the real estate, finance, mining and culture industries, is behind the project. At the time Monkey Kingdom was made public, Zhonghong chair Wang Yong-hong, said the park would be a “Disney-quality park that tells the stories important to China”.