Window of the World
As New Years Eve‘s go I think mine probably ranked among the most surreal. After work some colleagues and myself went to the “Window of the World” theme park located in the western part of Shenzhen. The 48 hectare park contains over 130 scale reproductions of some of the most famous tourist attractions in the world including a 108 meter tall fake Eiffel Tower. In China they never do things in halves and although I’m somewhat used to brash and vulgar displays of wealth around here this takes it to another level.
Above: replica of the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre in Paris but here actually an entrance to the Metro! Getting into the park proved to be a rather unpleasant experience due to the shere volume of other people trying to do the same and there only being a narrow entrance. At one point there was a small stampede and although I don’t like to say it the British definitely have the upper hand when it comes to queuing and common manors (except in football!). If you go after 7pm entrance to the park less than half price.
Above: Yes, the L’Arc de Triomphe placed next to the Matterhorn viewed from the top of the Eiffel Tower! Out of view just to the left is Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and Notre Dame.
Wandering about a theme park at night was a somewhat spooky experience, especially given the kitsch juxtaposition of world heritage with a mish-mash of fake Christmas sentiment. The replica of Manhattan even retains the twin towers of the former World Trade Center pre-9/11 right next to a fake jungle containing talking dinosaurs. As if all this wasn’t enough there was also an indoor ski slope and yet another skating arena.
I suppose for the majority of Chinese who will never set foot outside of Chinese territory this is a nice way to get a feel for some of the marvels to be seen around the world but I feel pleased to have seen many of them first hand before otherwise this would have just spoiled it! Happy New Year!
Lotte World
Lotte World, opened in 1989, is South Korea’s home grown answer to Disney Land and shares with it many of the same iconic themes to the degree that you have to wonder how they get away with it. The one big difference is that most of the theme park is housed indoors in an enormous enclosure making it the largest of its type in the world (ranked 7th overall worldwide for attendance). Whilst I can’t admit to being a huge fan of theme parks I do like some of the more extreme rides so on my first full day in Seoul I hopped on the subway and headed over to Jamsil to see what all the fuss was about.
First impressions: This place is off the scale for audacious design, it’s simply massive. With its own ice rink in the centre, monorail and “hot air” balloons travelling around the ceiling amidst the various themed sections and rides you can’t help but be impressed. My friend claims that the car park for the entire complex (including hotel and shopping mall) has over 50,000 spaces but I can’t help but think this is a little exaggerated!
The rides indoors are a bit of a mixed bag, most are quite enjoyable if a little tame for my tastes – the more extreme ones can be found in the outdoor “Magic Island” section of the park where favourites include Atlantis, Gyro Drop and the Gyro Swing, read on after the break for video’s 
Just as we were about to board the ride car of Atlantis, an Intamin AG Aqua Trax coaster (the only one of its type in the world), my friend casually noted that someone had been killed on the very same ride a couple of years ago really putting me at ease. I figured at a cost of $30m and being Swiss engineered it should probably be safe by now!
Photo by bweisner
Overall a fun day out, made even more amusing by the sickly couples here who go around wearing matching outfits (see top photo) and the comical double hand waves of the staff (see here and here) who must all be suffering from RSI by now!