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Search result for "China"

Results : 23
Happy Valley Beijing
country: China, Asia

When I entered Happy Valley Beijing the first time, my attention immediately drifted towards the obvious borrowings from Disney parks. DisneySea, Disney's California Adventure and Disneyland itself have all left heavy traces here. According to my review standards, the theme park lost one star straight away. However, everything which came after was surprisingly impressive. The state-of-the-art roller coasters, flume rides and park structure made for a great day. The...

Shanghai Disneyland
country: China, Asia

There is visible progress on the Shanghai Disneyland site: the huge moat that will encircle the Disney resort is being excavated, the three or four entry gates to the construction site are now equipped with barriers and security, and the site office has employees coming and going. And in the background, it's all digging and digging. It's the third time I've been on site, and I must say it still feels out of place that a brand-new Magic Kingdompark will see the light of day...

Universal Studios Beijing
country: China, Asia

The plans for a Beijing Universal Studios theme park were announced just hours after I had already booked my flight to China. I instantly went to inspect the future site in the south-eastern suburbs of Beijing. Universal Studios Osaka, Seoul and now Beijing? It looks like there will be a (welcome) overdose of Jurassic Park rides in North East Asia. The locals in the villages of the Tongzhou district (the proposed location of the park) were very warm-hearted and friendly but...

Happy Valley Sheshan
country: China, Asia

When I visited Happy Valley Sheshan, it was still under construction. The park's five major roller coasters (most of them Swiss-engineered) and other state-of-the-art attractions stick out so contrastingly from the surrounding tranquil countryside of Shanghai's South-Western suburbs, that it looks like a giant alien spaceship landed here and left half of its futuristic equipment upon departure. Thanks to Louis, Louis and Christine for granting me a preview of China's...

Happy Valley Chengdu
country: China, Asia

I was really unlucky with the drab weather conditions on the day of my visit to the 2009-opened Happy Valley theme park in Chengdu, therefore my photos turned out a little depressing. However, a closer look behind the smog unveils brand-new roller coasters (the red one manufactured by Switzerland's Intamin is the best), flume rides, river rapid rides and other state-of-the-art happiness-inducing rotators. Happy Valley Beijing looks more attractive and the new Happy Valley...

Chimelong Paradise
country: China, Asia

Guangzhou's Chime Long Paradise resembles a showroom for the latest coasters and thrill rides manufactured in Europe and North America. There is a lack of interconnecting theming and design, but the park is equipped with some solid attractions: Splash Battle, a Waterworld-inspired (though not very original) stunt show, a great dive roller coaster (that pauses just before a vertical drop, letting you peer into your screaming destiny), the first motorbike-shaped launch...

Chimelong Waterpark
country: China, Asia

What did residents of Hong Kong tell me when asked about Guangzhou? 'It's where all the pollution comes from!' 'Forget it, it's just an industrial place!' 'People are rude over there and they don't know how to eat!' I spend a day with clear skies and slap-happy, curious and friendly Chinese visitors and staff in Guangzhou's Chime Long Water Park the next day. Brand-new water slides manufactured by Canada's WhiteWaterWest and ProSlide make the Mainland yell: a funnel-shaped...

Window of the World
country: China, Asia

As you can see from the header photo above, the Disneyesque Snow White dwarfs at the entrance to this hybrid theme-park/outdoor-exhibition seem to have a severe drug problem: try focusing on the eyes of the second one from the left and you may start to feel dizzy (like me, I have a hard time writing these lines).'Window of the World', located in Maniland China a few miles north of Hong Kong, offers miniature model replicas of the world's most famous landmarks (which visibly...

Happy Valley Shenzhen
country: China, Asia

The oldest of the four Happy Valley parks (Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, being the other three) consists of the usual Disneyland borrowings and is the poorest of the family. My personal highlight was the river rapids ride featuring super-cold, high-pressure water jets hitting people's faces with such force that it resembles more a war scene than a family outing. The buttons to release the water jets are pressed by slap-happy fellow Chinese onlookers and what you encounter...

Happy Valley Wuhan
country: China, Asia

Industrial, smoggy Wuhan - that's the location of China's upcoming, fifth Happy Valley theme park. I find these amusement parks are fantastic for the locals. They surprise with brand-new coasters and quality rides, manufactured by the best suppliers around the world. And the ‘Happy Valley' brand gets better with each new park - the predecessors being located in Shenzhen, Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai. Creating fun places with peace-inducing landscaping outside...

World Joyland
country: China, Asia

I am speechless. This 2011-opened theme park just over two hours away from Shanghai (by a forbidding train/bus combination) beats the chicken feet out of my stomach. It's just a dreadfully terrible copy of Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. You'll find a carbon copy of the entrance street leading to the centerpiece lake (only uglier), a Spiderman ride rip-off to the lake's left (just so much worse and with nauseating movements) and a nearly 1:1 copy of...

OCT East
country: China, Asia

This is China’s Walt Disney World, or more precisely 'Overseas Chinese Town (OCT)'s adaptation of it. OCT is the 1985-founded Chinese conglomerate that set up the ‘Happy Valley’ theme parks in Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Spread over a vast area of 9 km2 and stretching all the way from the coast to high up in the mountains, there are some truly astounding components to this factory smog infested wonderland. The cashier will ask you if you want...

Beijing Shijingshan Amusement Park

Visited 2010. Consists of an old section that's terribly depressing, with lots of Disneyland rip-offs including Epcot's Spaceship Earth structure; and a new section with lots of theming on the surface, but not much behind. Rides in the new section are contemporary and worthwhile...

Changzhou Dinosaur Park

Visited 2012. Don't skip the savage, mad-scientist roller coaster 'Dinoconda', if you dare. Besides that, the park offers lots of theming and the latest ride technology, but nothing too spectacular...

Minsk World (Shenzhen)

Visited 2009. Minsk World is marketed as a theme park, but it's a docked battleship with a few lost tourists and lots of dancing Chinese teenage girls inside. Spookily exotic, but somewhat irritating and totally amiss to call it a leisure attraction...

Splendid China (Shenzhen)

Visited 2009. Built by the same people who created now-defunct Splendid China Florida. The park has no real rides, but makes for a great walk with few other people around. An oasis of calm and peace in Mainland China...

Happy Magic Water Cube

Attempted visit 2013. Hyped indoor water park housed in former Olympic building that was closed for six straight days in a row when I was in Beijing in September 2013. Smaller and less spectacular than internet pictures suggest. Consists of two slide towers and multiple giant jellyfish shapes (that look like purchased from IKEA) hanging from the ceiling. The water park only occupies 1/3 or less of the Water Cube structure, the rest is pools and restaurants. No match for...

Happy Valley Tianjin

Visited 2013. Another apocalyptic theme park whose purpose is to serve as a sales pitch for the property developments surrounding it. The theming is a terrible throw-whatever-together patchwork that can in fact serve as a role model as to how to NOT design theme parks. As of 2013 this is the newest, but also smallest and unfortunately worst of the Happy Valley chain of theme parks...

Fantawild Dreamland

Visited 2013. Located in Qingdao, between Beijing and Shanghai. Brand-new, huge and noisy Disney/Universal rip-off with localized versions of the Indiana Jones and Transformers rides. Has budget, but lacks all the heart and soul it needs to survive and while already empty today, will be entirely unsustainable once it has to compete with Shanghai Disneyland...

Romance Park

Visited 2013. Located in Sanya, Hainan. Hyper-themed, yet not a theme park, so don't expect any rides inside! Romance Park is a collection of shows, which I skipped...

Atlantis Sanya

Visited 2013. China's first Atlantis resort will be located on a stunning beach that I found to be surprisingly empty...

Chimelong Ocean Kingdom
country: China, Asia

What's your order, sir? I'd like to have a little bit of Disneyland, mixed with chunks of Universal Studios and a portion of SeaWorld, a big portion of SeaWorld, please! Mix it really well. I want to see you mixing it. For the topping I take a bit of Atlantis Dubai, and please also add some fluffy animal characters on top. No spices. Upsize, sir?
Yes, upsize, of course, don't you know who you are talking to? Chimelong Ocean Kingdom is spectacular, well-executed,...

Xiaomeisha Sea World

Visited 2010. Very, very, very depressing place. Sad animal meets sad human...

Results : 23




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