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Theme parks

Fantawild方特

By visitor numbers one of the largest theme-park operators on earth, and essentially unknown outside China. Fantawild runs dozens of parks and leans heavily on indoor dark rides, large-format screen attractions and original Chinese-mythology IP rather than licensed characters — the Journey to the West and Chinese folklore material that a domestic audience grew up with. The technology is often better than the international reputation would suggest, and because the parks are built in second- and third-tier cities they are rarely on a foreign itinerary at all.

What to do

  • If you only do one, do Wuhu. The Oriental Heritage park there is built on the intangible-cultural-heritage list rather than on rides, which is the clearest statement of what the company is actually for.
  • Check the closing time before you commit to an evening. The night show and the later hours run in holiday periods rather than year-round.