The world famous waxworks museum featuring realistic, life-sized models of celebrities and famous persons opened in Beijing recently to large crowds.

Madame Tussauds Beijing is the third waxworks museum to open in Greater China after Shanghai and Hong Kong. It's located at Qianmen Street in Beijing.

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The museum, naturally, features many wax statues of famous Chinese actors, pop stars, singers and other celebrities. Bruce Lee is there, of course, but not Mao Zedong, who will be added later on.

The museum is divided into sections. Among these and some of the celebrities that populate them are Film (Bruce Lee, Li Bingbing, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, among others); World Leaders (Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin); Music (Jay Chu, Cui Jain, Michael Jackson); Sports (Yao Ming. Lionel Messi, Usain Bolt) and TV Studio (Nicki Wu, Sun Li).

Craig Dunkerley, Head of Asia Openings, Merlin Entertainments Group, said opening Madame Tussauds Beijing underlines Merlin's overall commitment to expanding its attractions in China.

"It's our most important developing market which, you know, I cannot stress enough," he said.

Merlin is an operator of visitor attractions based in the United Kingdom. It is the largest such company in Europe, and is the second largest after Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in the world.

Merlin noted that visits to its Shanghai museum have tripled since it opened in 2006. Visits to the Hong Kong museum have jumped seven-fold since 2000 because of a large influx of mainland tourists.

Madame Tussauds Beijing can be divided into three areas, said Dunkerley. There are "general figures" such as like Lady Gaga and Brad Pitt that are popular in all of Madame Tussauds branches. There are popular figures popular in Asia and those that are popular in Beijing.

TagsMadame Tussauds, wax, museum