The English Premier League side Manchester United FC officially opened the Preview Center for its Manchester United Experience Center in Beijing on the morning of July 3, at Beijing FUN in Qianmen Dashilan Area, south of Tiananmen Square, as well as launched the club’s first Chinese-language mobile app.

According to Manchester United, the Beijing center is the first of its kind for any football club. It offers a look into the Experience Center that is said will be in full operation in 2020. Manchester United also plan to open more Experience Centers across China after the Beijing center for the 100m fanbase the club say they have here. Shanghai and Shenyang are going to welcome a preview center each in the near future too.

The Experience Center aims to use technology to offer an interactive and immersive experience for fans, enabling them to feel the club’s culture, to review the club’s history, to celebrate, as well as to shopping. Currently, the Beijing preview center includes a full-scale replica of the famous Trinity Statue at Old Trafford, an interactive showcase of the club’s historical moments and triumphs, a replica of the players’ tunnel and changing rooms and the first Manchester United Megastore in mainland China.

The Experience Center is a partnership between Manchester United FC and a Chinese real estate development and investment company Harves Entertainment (pinyin: Huarui Shiji). The two parties first announced the project back in January 2019.

Richard Arnold, the Group Managing Director of Manchester United, who was present at the opening ceremony, said that the concept of experience center would allow fans to get closer to the club they love.

The Chinese-language mobile app that was also launched on July 3 offers club related news, exclusive videos and more direct access to the club for fans. It is described as a digital means while the experience center a physical approach.

Three club legends also attended the ceremony at the Preview center, Peter Schmeichel, Dimitar Berbatov and Wes Brown.

In the 2018/2019 season, the team, once dominant in the Premier League, finished 6th place behind long-time rivals Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.