Splendid China

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There are quite a few ‘amusement’ parks here in Shenzhen. Amusement parks in Shenzhen are just like the parks back home in the States. There are shows, overpriced food, and crowds. But there aren’t any roller coasters and very few rides. Mostly, there’s just stuff to look at. When Kim’s mom came to visit we went to Splendid China, a park in Nanshan. This particular amusement park is supposed to represent the people of China. As such, each section of the park represents a different ethnic minority with shows and shops corresponding to their culture. It was more interesting that I thought it would be. So many things in China purport themselves to be authentic but end up being some distorted Disney version of its real self. But much of what we saw seemed to be almost accurate.

We had to wait for Michelle to get off work so we didn’t enter the park until after 3pm. I didn’t really mind going later in the day. It was more than 90 degrees and with the humidity (usually between 75 and 95% here) we were all sweating our patooties off. We caught the tail end of a show for a tribe whose name I can’t remember. Then we went in search of Little Tibet to see the horse show. It took a while to find it. None of the employees we asked were familiar with any other part of the park and kept pointing us in different directions.

We finally found it and with enough time to get good seats for the show. Before the show tourists were allowed to take the horses for a spin around the arena, accompanied OR unaccompanied. I was really surprised to see how many hopped onto a horse for a rather vigorous gallop around the ring without a guide. I was also surprised to see how many parents through their kids onto a horse with a performer and laughed cheerily as their children flopped helplessly to and fro when the horse hit full gallop.

The show was really good! There were all sorts of tricks and stunts and a ‘battle’ complete with a raucous soundtrack blaring over the speakers. I loved the sword and spear fights. After the show we walked around some more to look at the ‘stuff’. At the end of the day there was a big finale type of show. No photos were allowed. It was a sort of menagerie of vignettes and performances. Some of it didn’t make any sense (like when a caveman shot a lit arrow into a waterfall and set it on fire) but there were a lot of interesting costumes and some good acrobats.

After the show we trudged up the long flight of steps that led to the exit then hit Coldstone Creamery for some well-deserved ice cream sundaes.

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Photos

No matter what country you are in...
...every show has a 'humiliate the tourist' portion

Hehe
Grow up!