Life

City's amusement parks dance into carnival season with free beer, entry

By HUANG YULI (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-05 10:10

Beijing has welcomed the season of revelry with its amusement parks firing up their summer carnivals.

Shijingshan Amusement Park and Beijing Happy Valley both launched their carnival season on Saturday.

The fun will last until the end of August.

Dancers perform during the gala at Shijingshan amusement park on Saturday. [LI JUNDONG / XINHUA]

A spokeswoman for Shijingshan Amusement Park, surnamed Lu, said the highlight of their carnival is the evening show, during which visitors will be able to experience the roller coasters, Jones Adventure and another 22 rides for a 60-yuan ticket.

The floats on parade each evening between 8:30 and 9:10 will present shows from five continents that will have performers with exotic dresses moving to modern hip-hop, Brazilian, Indian and Egyptian rhythms. In addition, free beer will be on offer.

"We have five floats and they are all equipped with big LED screens. The light they send out together with the music and the shows is fantastic," Lu said.

Free entry will be granted to students who participated in the college entrance examination and high school examination this year, those who was born in the Year of Tiger or those with a birthday on the day of their entry, she said.

The park's carnival last year attracted 300,000 visitors.

Beijing Happy Valley launched a parade that includes nine themes, including "hot samba", "World Cup revelry" and "food and wine". The parade will be seen once each day and once each night.

Wang Yue, the park's PR manager, said the Light of Dream parade in the evening includes more than 16 luminous vehicles with 70 performers from both the mainland and overseas.

The carnival will also include celebrities and football babes, said Wang.

In 2009, the parade drew 900,000 visitors in two months, which was more than one-third of the park's annual visitors, "and we expect this number to exceed one million this year," said Wang.

"It's a pity that the World Cup this year will not help us much because the games are at night, but we still expect more people because we are offering more rides and entertainment opportunities."

The park's second phase, which covers 50,000 sq m, was finished last month and is now open for a trial run prior to its official opening.