China's First Chocolate Wonderland Park Opens Today

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The Chocolate Wonderland Park opens to the public on the square at the north side of the Bird's Nest Stadium on January 29th. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

It's long been said that the Great Wall of China is the only thing you can see from space.

Well, now you can smell it too – and it smells like chocolate.

Welcome to China's first ever Chocolate Wonderland Park, a fantasy theme park that focuses on – yes, you've guessed it - chocolate. And, the park opens its gates today.

Chocolate Wonderland Park, which is located next to the 2008 Olympic's Bird's Nest Stadium, showcases the largest replica of the Great Wall in the world. It also has life-sized chocolate replicas of the Terracotta Soldiers, as well as much more.

Talking to CRI, the projects General Manager Tina Zheng said the park reflects China’s pride and the people’s desire to express love between each other.

"Chocolate contains lots of meaning. When you are sending your friends chocolate as a gift, you'll notice that the barrier among people is gone. When you see chocolate you'll figure out that nothing can stop its charm. "

The chocolate park features artifacts made from about 80,000 kilograms of real chocolate. Zheng says the park aims to be the best winter entertainment and recreation spot in Beijing.

"The whole project took about 2 years. We spent nearly half a year gathering all the chocolate material and chocolate artists. Just as "Charlie's Chocolate Factory" aims to show a happy and splendid western concept we also want to instill a happy element to the world. We hope to integrate the 3000 years of chocolate history with the 5000 year history of China and hope to see some sparkling impact during the process."

Aside from enjoying chocolate art and statues, visitors to the park will also have the chance to learn how to make chocolate themselves – from the cocoa bean right into chocolate bars.

The opening of Chocolate Wonderland Park also comes at a perfect time – offering special entertainment and a choclatey cultural twist for Chinese New Year.

Travel Tips:

Running Time: Jan 29, 2010 to April 10, 2010
Opening Hours: 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays, 9 am to 7:30 pm on weekends
Admission: 80 Yuan (for Children under 140cm and elderly people over 65 years old, concessionary tickets are available)
Location: the middle area of the Olympic Green, north the Bird's Nest plaza
Get off at the Olympic Park station of subway line 8 and take the southeast exit.
Official Website: www.chocolatewonderland.com.cn
Enquiries: 010-59717762

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