Happy Valley - 欢乐谷

Yesterday we went to possibly the tackiest place in the world. Yes, in the WORLD. It is called Happy Valley, and is a new amusement park in South East Beijing. I was talked into going by Horatio and Chris, and they were under the impression that I would be joining them on all the rides. (Yeah, I may have failed to mention that I don't particularly like rollercoasters.)

We met at uni at 7.30am, which meant that I had to get up earlier on a Saturday than I do on a weekday; I was most unimpressed. We then caught a two hour bus to somewhere south of the city, then transfered to another bus for a shorter half-hour ride. We got there just after it opened for the day, and there were already swarms of people (to be expected I guess, it is China after all). So, following Horatio's lead (he had been once before), we went to a rollercoaster that he promised me remained upright the entire time. He was lying. It was possibly the longest 35 seconds of my life, and I had my eyes shut and my jaw clenched the entire time. Here it is:



Following this, we went on a ride similar to the Terror Drop in Australia. Basically, whilst seated, you quickly ascend to the top (about 500m) and then drop again. It's all over in 10 seconds. Again, I wasn't feeling all that great. It looks like this:



I had learnt my lesson so i watched the boys go on a few rides while I played mum and held their bags. We ate a relatively expensive lunch (25yuan!) then went on a ride similar to the Bermuda Triangle at Sea World. Basically, the cart (is that the correct term) climbs up and then slams down into a lake of water from varying heights. You get so wet that the sell disposable raincoats at the entrance. And still, even wearing the raincoats, we managed to get very drenched.

The most enjoyable part of the day was watching the greatest ride ever. Ten people sit on a spinning disk (like a merry-go-round but on ground level), and the disk spins and spins faster and faster until they all slide off. I saw kids throw up, adults slide off and take out kids - one even got a blood nose. Was great to watch.

I wasn't expecting staying there all day, but we did. We left at 7pm, and Horatio's dad picked us up. We then went back to their place for dinner (yummiest Chinese food I've had so far), and we watched Silent Hill. Horatio's place is T.I.N.Y! The kitchen is the size of Mum and Dad's ensuite, the bathroom as big as a hallway cupboard, and the living room/dining room/master bedroom is about half the size of my bedroom back home. Horatio had the biggest room, which I could still reach both walls if I extended my arms out. I think their entire apartment is about the size of our living room extension.

Here are some more photos from the Happy Valley website - will be getting our photos soon hopefully