Amusing

Before it gets too far past reality, here are a few pictures and notes from an amusement park that we went to last week with our friend Wang Tong and her family.

First, a couple of observations:

1. Unlike most, if not all, superbig theme parks in the States, admission is free! You just pay for the rides that you want to pay for.
2. It should come as no surprise that a theme park on one of the first warm Saturdays of Spring should have lots of people. (oh, yeah, and we're in China, aren't we?)
3. It should also come as no surprise that a substantial percentage of these people have never seen any foreigners in person before, let alone a family of five with three young kids. This was the first time I've been in an amusement park where I could have attracted less attention to myself by dressing up in one of those big furry mascot costumes. Since we didn't have five mascot costumes, however, we (well, the kids, mostly) spent a lot of time getting exclaimed over and gathering crowds of onlookers. The midway/ride area was particularly intense - any time we stopped moving for more than a minute or two, we instantly had at least twenty people surrounding us.
4. A cultural difference: American theme parks = expensive entry, expensive food, ride all the rides you want to for "free". Therefore, most of your time is spent standing and waiting in huge long lines.
   Chinese theme parks = free entry, cheap and plentiful food, and (relatively) expensive rides. Therefore, you go on five rides or so, and spend most of your time sitting around eating, drinking, and relaxing. Much more civilized. (Sitting around also includes the added benefit of not attracting as much attention...)

One thing that's great about theme parks worldwide is their uncanny ability to accurately portray cultures from all over the globe. Here's a snapshot of the "American" section...

Best part? Watching the kids have fun, of course! Zekey to me afterwards, "Dad, when I'm a grownup, I'm going to bring my kid here every day!" Awwww.....