Howdy there and welcome back to the Yellow River Chronicles! This week we are continuing the Other Side of the World tradition of incisive journalism with a look into another PR of C amusement park you may find..well, you may find us at a loss for words on this one, dear readers.
As you may recall, the last article covered the plans to build a multi-billion dollar amusement park just outside Tibet's capital, Lhasa. This is a potentially sensitive subject for some, but clearly not for anyone currently residing in China AND living there on a residency visa. However, as it turns out, the planned Lhasa amusement park is not the only example of the PR of C penchant for optimism and honesty in the face of potentially sensitive topics.
Eighth Route Army Culture Park in Shanxi Province:
The YRC has learned that a NEW theme park opened a year ago, located in Shanxi, a province that has many "red tourism" destinations. During the 1930s and 40s, over 90,000 of Shanxi's residents joined the Eighth Route Army, making up the majority of the 140,000 troops that would fight over 4,300 battles against the Japanese.
According to The Atlantic, the theme park features trench simulation scenarios that allow visitors to don either Japanese or Eight Route Army outfits and shoot toy weapons. The Eighth Route Army was a unit of the National Revolutionary Army that fought against the Japanese. Besides dressing as them, visitors can also ride a train and shoot at Japanese soldiers.
There are even live-action performances that show actors dressed as Japanese troops that "stick samurai swords in plainclothes Eighth Route Army soldiers and then shoot them". Um...yeah. Where's the Eight Route Army bar, by the way?
This, from the article in The Atlantic:
No, This is NOT a Joke: Now you may say, "How imperialistic do you have to be to go on this ride?", or you may question if the the good old YRC is following The Onion into journalistic history (more on that next week). As proof, here is the link to the article, if you wish any further details: Veracity Check and Atlantic Article HERE!!
What are We Doing About It: You will be please to know that the YRC staff is hard at work researching other interesting and educational Theme Parks. Some potential ideas are the "Tora Tora Tora" theme park where Japanese citizens can sink models of American battleships, or the "Barbarians Enter Through the Front Gate" theme park based on the Battle of Stalingrad. There, Russian citizens can see ballet troupes from Moscow reenacting scenes from the battle. The possibilities are just endless.
Remember! You must be THIS TALL to read the YRC, and THIS TALL you are! Until next week!
P.S. They are planning a Disney World in the good old 'Hai! This from China Economic Review:
As you may recall, the last article covered the plans to build a multi-billion dollar amusement park just outside Tibet's capital, Lhasa. This is a potentially sensitive subject for some, but clearly not for anyone currently residing in China AND living there on a residency visa. However, as it turns out, the planned Lhasa amusement park is not the only example of the PR of C penchant for optimism and honesty in the face of potentially sensitive topics.
Eighth Route Army Culture Park in Shanxi Province:
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| Eight Route Army, Shanxi |
According to The Atlantic, the theme park features trench simulation scenarios that allow visitors to don either Japanese or Eight Route Army outfits and shoot toy weapons. The Eighth Route Army was a unit of the National Revolutionary Army that fought against the Japanese. Besides dressing as them, visitors can also ride a train and shoot at Japanese soldiers.
There are even live-action performances that show actors dressed as Japanese troops that "stick samurai swords in plainclothes Eighth Route Army soldiers and then shoot them". Um...yeah. Where's the Eight Route Army bar, by the way?
This, from the article in The Atlantic:
What would you get if you were able to mix Red Dawn with both a Civil War battle reenactment and Disneyland, and then translated the whole thing into Chinese? At the Eighth Route Army Culture Park in Shanxi province, named after the Communist military unit that fought behind Japanese lines in the 1940s, visitors can dress up as either Chinese or Japanese troops and pretend to blast away at each other with toy guns.
A boy dressed as an Eighth Route Army soldier aims down the sights of his toy gun during a live-action role-playing game. (Jason Lee/Reuters)
Complete with staffers who play out scenes of Japanese oppression for the patriotic benefit of Chinese onlookers, the theme park is also equipped with a shooting-gallery attraction that takes would-be soldiers through a model village populated with fake targets, as well as trenches where tourists do battle in live-action role-playing games. The park cost the local government about $80 million to put together. At a time when anti-Japanese sentiment is running high in China over the two countries' island dispute in the East China Sea, the theme park seems to have hit on a timely business opportunity.
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| Actors' performances at the Eighth Route Army Culture Park can involve elaborate visual effects. (Jason Lee/Reuters) |
What are We Doing About It: You will be please to know that the YRC staff is hard at work researching other interesting and educational Theme Parks. Some potential ideas are the "Tora Tora Tora" theme park where Japanese citizens can sink models of American battleships, or the "Barbarians Enter Through the Front Gate" theme park based on the Battle of Stalingrad. There, Russian citizens can see ballet troupes from Moscow reenacting scenes from the battle. The possibilities are just endless.
Remember! You must be THIS TALL to read the YRC, and THIS TALL you are! Until next week!
P.S. They are planning a Disney World in the good old 'Hai! This from China Economic Review:
Shanghai Disney ResortScheduled to open in 2016, Shanghai’s Disney Resort will cover 963 acres in the Pudong district, approximately three times the area of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. At an initial cost of RMB24.5 billion (US$3.7 billion), Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and the park’s majority owner, the Shanghai Shengdi Group, aim to build a whole new world of entertainment and adventure, including a park, two themed hotels, a retail, dining and entertainment venue, and an array of recreation facilities.
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