CHINA 5A TRAVEL
Guinness-record world's largest golf club turned 5A resort: championship courses, spa retreats, snow play, aquarium and craft workshops, 50 minutes from Hong Kong.
Mission Hills (观澜湖) is China's flagship golf-and-leisure resort — a national 5A scenic area since 2011, carved out of barren hills on the Shenzhen–Dongguan border from 1992 by founder Dr. Chu Shum-Hoi. Its first course, designed by Jack Nicklaus, opened in 1994 and hosted the 41st Golf World Cup a year later; by 2004 Guinness World Records certified it the world's largest golf club, re-certified in 2007 at twelve championship courses and 216 holes — every one designed by and named after a legend, from Nicklaus and Faldo to Els, Pete Dye, Olazábal and Sörenstam.
The scale is that of a small town: some 20 km² of club across two cities, around 12,000 staff and 3,000 caddies, 2,000–3,000 rounds played daily over 1,200 bunkers linked by 360 km of cart paths, and roughly three million visitors a year. The pedigree matches — the World Cup Course (7,294 yards) welcomed Tiger Woods for his 2001 Challenge, while the Dongguan-side Olazábal Course (151 bunkers, voted best in Asia) hosted the Omega Mission Hills World Cup 2007–09 and the 2012 WGC-HSBC Champions.
Yet you never need to swing a club. The resort has grown into a complete leisure destination: a 220,000 m² ecological sports park with Shenzhen's first large Ferris wheel, an Ocean World whose 60 m underwater tunnel is billed the city's longest, a year-round indoor ski slope at Karoo Ice & Snow World, 300+ hands-on craft courses at MH Maker, two spas, a tennis centre and the MH Mall — nearly all stitched together by free shuttles from Guanlanhu metro station, about 50 minutes from Hong Kong. Official couple's and family packages from ¥1,499 and ¥1,699 bundle a hotel night with spa, snow or ocean play and a driving-range taster.
Highlights
The World's Largest Golf Club
Twelve championship courses at its peak — 216 holes Guinness-certified as the biggest golf club on earth.
World Cup Course
Jack Nicklaus' 7,294-yard tournament layout — 1995 World Cup host, Tiger Woods' 2001 stage, 87 bunkers and big water carries.
Eco Sports Park & Ferris Wheel
220,000 m² of rides, go-karts, rope courses and archery wrapped in recycled-tyre eco art — with Shenzhen's first large Ferris wheel.
Ocean World
Around 1,000 species across nine themed zones and three live-show theatres — walk the 60 m tunnel billed as Shenzhen's longest.
Karoo Ice & Snow World
An 80–100 m indoor ski slope held at -3 to -5 °C all year — Guangdong's provincial winter-sports training base.
MH Maker Craft Factory
300+ hands-on courses in ten crafts — blow glass, dye indigo, throw pottery, cast type or build a ukulele.
Photo Gallery
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