The Angry Darren Mullins

I am glad that I was able to make this my 600th park. I am glad that I didn't encounter any of the stupidity that I often experience at the parks here.

January 24, 2019: Colorful Yunnan Paradise (Kunming, Yunnan, China) Before I talk about this park, I want to say that this TR almost never happened. I spent the last 8 days traveling through southwest China and I tried to go to this park a few days ago, only to be misled by two travel agents who just swore, by golly, that this park closed after only a short time in operation. A taxi driver also said there was nothing at this park and that it was better to have him take my wife and I several hours outside of town to a better attraction. There was also the nonsense of me being told I could ride a coaster in Dali a couple of days before and being allowed to pay for a ticket and getting all the way to the loading platform only to have the idiot who motioned for me to go up to the station decide to turn me away when he saw that I was a foreigner. All of these things almost derailed my desire to go to Colorful Yunnan Paradise. I did make it to the park yesterday and I had a great time in what is one of the best parks I have ever visited. Perhaps the best thing about this is that Colorful Yunnan Paradise became park #600 for me to visit and the four coasters here upped my coaster count to 1186 coasters. Here are my thoughts on the coasters: Mine Train-This is a Golden Horse ride with a new track design. It is a big improvement over their earlier mine trains. Wing Coaster-This is a fun B&M that borrows elements from Gatekeeper. Tiger Leaping Gorge-This is a Mack Supersplash. It is the third one I have ridden. It is a fun ride with a reversal turntable that lets riders take a drop backwards. Launch Coaster-This is a Mack Blue Fire clone. It is my favorite coaster here. I hope that more of these will be built. This is an excellent park. The only downside is that it takes about three hours to get here using public transportation. I took a subway one hour to Kunming south railway station and waited nearly an hour to get on a bus that took another hour to the park. I have now visited 600 parks, ridden 1186 coasters and found 460 coasters before ACE or RCDB. I finally made it to Colorful Yunnan Paradise...no thanks to a handful of lying locals in Kunming. That wheel looks big! It is really big. Mine Train is a Golden Horse ride and uses a new track design. I like the faucets in the restrooms. There is even a McDonald's inside the park. This trabant ride is nice. Here is another ride at the park. This is Tiger Leaping Gorge, it is named after a scenic area in China. It is the third ride of this type that I have ridden. This is a basic family ride. It allows riders to shoot water, but there are no specific targets. Yes! A Blue Fire clone, this one is called Launch Coaster. It is a lot of fun. Here is the big loop! Here is the lead car. Last, but not least, is Wing Coaster. It borrows elements of Gatekeeper. It is the tallest coaster in the park. It is a fun ride. Here is the first drop on Wing Coaster. I will close out the TR with a photo of the Carousel.

January 23, 2019: Longjiang Park and Space Fantasy Theme Park in Chuxiong, Yunnan, China I went to two parks in Chuxiong city today. To be honest, given how things have gone the last couple of times I have tried to do something at parks here in China, I probably would not have gone at all except that my motel was a short walk away from both places. Longjiang Park: This is an older city park. It is a bit rundown and the rides closed a year ago. The funny thing about this is that the rides are in a gated area and the gate was wide open. People can just walk into this area. I do not know why they left the gate open when nothing is open here, but closed rides are more than common here in China (more so than other places). I did get some photos though. The rides here opened in 2007 and most parks in China say that the service life of a ride is 10 years-this applies to Intamin, B&M and other western rides as well as Chinese made rides. Space Fantasy Theme Park: This park opened about 14 months ago and looks very clean. There is a kiddie coaster here. It is a copy of a Japanese design. It is a very short ride, but one ride consists of three circuits. This ride is one of 458 coasters that I have discovered before ACE or RCDB. I am at Longjiang Park this morning. Judging by the water, this place has seen better days. There are rides here. This is an old carousel. There is a powered coaster here. This looks more elaborate than other powered coasters here in China. The rides at Longjiang closed a year ago. A twenty minute walk away was Space Fantasy Theme Park. This park opened a little over a year ago. This pirate ship type ride looks great. I like the carousel here. There is a coaster here. After a year of operation, it still looks new. It is a very small ride. Here is an onride shot to close out the TR. This ride is a copy of a Japanese design.

I do not think that is it. I may have been the first foreigner to visit this place. A lady told my wife that hardly anyone visits it. Sadly, I used to tell people back home to come to China to visit the parks, but I have stopped telling them to come here. If many Chinese continue to be bent on ruining the experience, it will be very hard to tell people to come to China. Let's also think about what this could do to the parks in the rest of the world. Think about this-now many Chinese have money and travel overseas. What if a Chinese person has a bad experience at a Chinese park and then travels to America and visits Ohio and says "Dali Allies Happy Valley was crap, I am sure Kings Island will be crap as well". In short, poorly managed parks in China could cause Chinese people to bypass parks in other countries.

I know of no accidents involving foreigners here, but I do know that these types of issues started to become more commonplace during the summer of 2017 when I was turned away from four large coasters in about 10 weeks time. I have a wonderful wife who is from China and I think that it would be unbecoming of me to not be open to embracing her country. With that being said, with the amount of time it takes to plan a trip, travel, the cost of train tickets and motels and such all adds up and when I experience this type of thing, then all of my effort to get there was a waste. At what point do I just start flying to Taiwan or Thailand or Japan to enjoy my hobby? If China takes over the amusement park industry, an obituary may be written because things like I have experienced the last two days can kill the industry.

Nanhu Park in Nanning, Guangxi, China (January 19, 2019) I visited Nanhu Park in Nanning on this date. This is a nice city park that is very clean. It has a small collection of rides that includes a fruit worm family coaster. I would ride the coaster (one ride is 2 circuits) and take some photos and leave as I had to get on a train to Kunming. The park itself is a short walk from the Nanhu subway station. This makes it easy to visit if you are in Nanning. I will check out Nanhu Park in Nanning today. Here is another giant wheel that is so common at Asian parks. I just have to get the carousel into this TR. There is a pretty basic flume with a lighting package at this place. There is a credit here. I have been on several of these. This will close out the TR.

If I stop going, then I am a racist for not supporting Chinese parks. Perhaps Chinese people need to learn how to run these places in a sensible manner and be glad that a foreigner like myself is willing to be visit and, if I have a good time, tell the rest of the world. #nomorenonglife

January 21, 2019: Dali Allies Happy Valley (Dali, Yunnan, China) I spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day experiencing racism. I visited Dali Allies Happy Valley (no relation to the Happy Valley chain) and I was Chinard there. At the ticket booth, I explained that I wanted to ride both of the coasters and the lady happily sold me a ticket. I went into the park and headed for the loopscrew coaster. I was told by some employees that it was open and a Chinese guy motioned for me to go up the entrance. Once the Chinese guy got closer to me and saw that I was not Chinese, he turned me away. He used the excuse that I was too tall for this ride. On the way down the entrance ramp, here came two Chinese guys who were the same height as me and they got to ride. I had my wife ask other employees what was going on and they all asserted that I could ride the coaster, so I try again and I am turned away a second time. The ride op told them I was too tall. I pointed out to him that other people who weren't any shorter got to ride. Needless to say I was very disappointed. I did get to ride the jungle mouse coaster, but this is another example of being turned away from the large coaster and being permitted to ride the smaller coaster. I have been traveling through southwest China for the past few days with my wife and I have tried to ride 6 coasters at 5 parks. Four of these coasters have been kiddie coasters and one (the jungle mouse today) is more of a family ride. The last remaining coaster is a large thrill ride (the loopscrew today) and I was turned away from it (while being permitted to ride the smaller rides). I am beginning to think that maybe the bigger rides are reserved for Chinese only while foreigners are going to be regulated to doing the White Monkey Dance and have to settle for 2nd and 3rd tier rides. Many of the other employees seemed apologetic for what happened, but why did the guy change his mind after seeing that I was not Chinese? Why were two Chinese who were as tall as I am get to ride? With the jungle mouse today, I have now ridden 1181 coasters and discovered 458 coasters before ACE or RCDB. My next coaster trip may be outside of China seeing how they screwed things up for me over the past two days (see my Colorful Yunnan TR for more). #nomorenonglife Let's check out a new park in southwest China. This is the carousel at the park. I have been on so many of these. This should be fun. I like this design. Unfortunately I did not get to ride. One person, the ride op, refused me after he saw I was a foreigner. Asians love big Ferris wheels. The flume was not operating today. There is also a mouse here. I did get to ride this one.

January 20, 2019: Colorful Yunnan Paradise (Kunming, Yunnan, China) *There is nothing wrong with this trip report. You are about to be CHINARD* I went to Colorful Yunnan Paradise today to enjoy the B&M wing coaster and Blue Fire clone...only to hit a snag. It started before I left this morning. My wife called the park and nobody answered the phone (not a surprise when I remember that we called Victory Kingdom on and off for almost two years before someone answered-no wonder that place closed). We went down and asked at the hotel lobby if they had any info on how to get to it or info on potential discounts. Nobody knew anything, so we checked a couple of travel agency offices and at both places they said "Colorful Yunnan Paradise has already closed". Given that people at two different places said this and the fact that nobody at the park answered the phone, we scratched the idea of going. We found out a bit later that the park was still very much open, but by this time, it was too late for us to go. Instead of Colorful Yunnan Paradise, I visited Tanhuasi Park instead. While it is a nice park, that kiddie powered coaster just doesn't fill the footers of a Mack Blue Fire clone. I do not want to close this TR without pointing out that what I experienced today is nothing new for me. There are two reasons why you are getting photos of a different park than what is mentioned in the title of the TR. The first reason is nobody at Colorful Yunnan Paradise answered the phone. This is a recurring problem in China. I remember a commercial on the radio as a child where a phone kept ringing and a voice said "this is the sound of business lost". As Chinese people love money, it seems they should master the art of answering the phone. Remember, I called Victory Kingdom in Guilin for two years before I got an answer. With such crappy customer service, I am not surprised that it has closed. The other reason I did not get to go to Colorful Yunnan was the dishonesty of people at the travel agents. If they didn't offer anything regarding the park, they should have said so instead of lying to me. I have put some time into coming here and planning my schedule. Kunming is supposed to be a tourist city and they need to be prepared to deal with tourists in a sensible manner. The anger I feel right now is similar to that time Romon-U Park changed the rules after I bought my ticket. At the gate the rules said I could ride Euro Express. At the loading platform, a new rule was introduced. China has brought its freak flag to the amusement park industry and I am a racist because I do not like being lied to. For those of you who clicked on this hoping to read to see photos of a B&M and two Macks, you now know what it is like to be CHINARD. Welcome to Colorful Yunnan Para...er Tanhuasi Park. Wow! That B&M wing coaster just touches the sky... Oh wait! Thanks to a combination of dishonesty and unorganization, I am not at Colorful Yunnan. Tanhuasi Park's merry go round will have to do. Why should I want to ride a Mack water coaster when there are clearly other options? Who needs a goddamned Blue Fire clone when this powered kiddie coaster will do? When facing this, that Blue Fire clone loses its luster. Eat my dust Blue Fire clone.

I try to be very nice, but it is hard when I have to deal with dishonesty and racism. I am certain that if any you were told vyou could ride a coaster and then, after paying the admission, you were told you couldn't ride, you would probably be very angry as well.

January 18, 2019: Qicai Amusement Park/Huangpu Children's Park/Huangpu Park in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China Qicai Amusement Park: This park is at the end of a metro line (actually a 10 minute walk). It is part of a large mall that features many nice stores and restaurants. There are some basic rides like a pirate ship, powered coaster, wave swinger and so on. I rode the powered coaster, had lunch at Saizeriya (a Japanese chain of Italian restaurants) and headed to the next park. Huangpu Children' Park is about a 15 minute of so subway ride away from Qicai. It is a nice little park with about a dozen rides, but it does not have a coaster. Huangpu Park-This park is about a 20 minute walk away from Huangpu Children's Park and is a very nice city park with a few rides. There is a small powered coaster among them. I rode the coaster, took some photos and left. In all, these three parks provided a nice little outing for me and became my first official parks of 2019. I started my visit at a very small park call Qicai Amusement Park in Guangzhou today. There is a small powered coaster called Gliding Dragon here. Here is the front of the train. It is a common powered coaster in China. Here is another look at it. I just had to take a spin on it. A short subway ride took me to Huangpu Children's Park. It has rides, but does not have any type of coaster. From Huangpu Children's Park, I walked 20 minutes or so to Huangpu Park. This park is actually very nice. There is a small powered coaster here. It has a fruit worm theme. It is a basic powered coaster. This will finish out the TR.

January 14, 2019: The Great European Carnival (Hong Kong) This is the fifth year in a row for the Great European Carnival in Hong Kong and I always make a point to go each year. The carnival is in Hong Kong's Central district on the harbor. It is always fun. This year was no exception. Crash Test is a spinning coaster that is making it's second appearance at the carnival. It is a bit rough and my car did not spin (other cars did). There is also a wacky worm called Family Roller Coaster. One ride is four circuits long. There are other rides here like a portable rapids ride and so on. I noticed that many of the rides this year were the same as last year. They usually change the rides every couple of years, so maybe next year a different coaster will be brought in and hopefully a scrambler type of ride will be brought in like the one they had a couple of years ago. The carnival runs through mid-February for those of you who may be visiting Hong Kong in the next few weeks. It is my fifth year in a row to visit the Great European Carnival in Hong Kong. This is always right inside the gate. Adults can't ride this. I like the appearance of this wave swinger ride. This is one of the many rides that are entertaining guests at the carnival this year. A ride on Family Roller Coaster is four circuits. This portable rapids ride has appeared here for a few years now. Crash Test is appearing here for the second year in a row. It is a bit rough. This will close the TR.

It had one shortly after the car leaves the lift.

December 22, 2018: Baolong Amusement Park (Guangzhou, Guangdong, China) I went to Baolong Amusement Park in Guangzhou today. It is a small, gated amusement park and not a multi purpose city park like so many parks in China are. There is a mouse coaster, a pirate ship, wave swinger and several kiddie rides here. The park opened about five years ago and some rides are showing their age now. There are game stands, a stage and small shops and restauarants. It is not too far from the Xinzao metro station and is near Fantasy D World, which I visited before. The coaster here became my 1176th coaster. Baolong Amusement Park became park #590 for me to visit. I am about to check out Baolong Amusement Park. They have a nice sign out at the entrance. I guess I will follow this path. The carousel looks nice. Most of the rides here are kiddie rides. A very basic mouse coaster is here. It has a lot of flat track. I rode it five times. I love this. This will close out the TR and give you some clue about the layout of the ride.

This ride makes a big splash. November 3, 2018: Fantawild Asian Legends in Nanning, Guangxi, China I have been looking forward to this park since I learned they were building it. It has many areas, shops and attractions based on cities and countries in southeast Asia such as Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indoneia and others. This is the first park of its type. It is a nice change of pace. There are three coasters here. The first one I rode was Puppy Coaster. This is a wacky worm knockoff. It was coaster #1173 for me to ride. There is a 90 kg. weight limit as this is a kiddie ride. I am 100 kg and they did allow me to ride. The best part is the ride info at the gate lists all height and weight requirements for the rides so that visitors know before they purchase a ticket. This is much better than listing part of the restrictions and then introducing more restrictions like Romon-U Park (and some other places did). Even if the ride op had said I couldn't ride, 1. it is a kiddie ride and 2. they told me of the restrictions at the gate. I appreciate some honesty and common sense. Well done Fantawild. Jungle Trailblazer is a short walk away from Puppy Coaster. This was #1174 for me to ride and woodie #111 for me to ride. It is a copy of the one at Fantawild Dreamland in Zhengzhou. It has Timberliner trains and is a lot of fun. The Stress Express is a Vekoma Boomerang. I like these a lot better with the new style of trains that they have been putting on these. It brought my coaster count to #1175. I hope they build more Asian Legends parks under the Fantawild brand. Fantawild, despite each of their parks not having many coasters, seems to be a class act among Chinese theme park operators. I hope they keep it up. It is time to visit Fantawild Asian Legends. I made it inside. Puppy Coaster is my first ride of the day. It is a Wacky Worm knockoff. Jungle Trailblazer is a great ride. I hope to see many more of these built. It is very tall. Get to Nanning and enjoy this great ride. This is one of the many theater based attractions here. The Cambodia area is awesome. This is Manila Manila. I was expecting a Philippine girl to pray the rosairy, pick my pocket and pray the rosairy again. Singapore is represented here. I love all of the southeast Asia themed buildings. This is one of the best parks that I have been to. A boomerang is here. I like these better since the train design was updated. It is great fun. Here is one last photo to close the TR.

It is possible that they were inspired by Avatar. As a side note, in Hunan province here in China, there is Zhangjiajie, which inspired the location for the setting of Avatar.

It really is a nice park. The coaster collection is lacking, but the overall experience makes up for that. I would rather ride a mediocre coaster in a great park, than to ride a world class coaster in a park that is horribly managed. One more thing I will mention is the efficiency of the ride ops here, they are great. A bit of a line on the mouse moved very quickly.

October 4, 2018: Longfeng Villa Video Resort in Dongguan, Guangdong, China I went to Longfeng Villa Video Resort today. I had been here once before when it was called Successful Land. That was back in 2011. The park has changed quite a bit since then and has a lot more in the way of rides and attractions now. In addition to expanding a lot, everything is kept up pretty well and prices are great. The park is recognized as a AAAA tourist attraction in China (the highest rating is AAAAA), so that should clue you in on the quality of the park. In regards to coasters, there is Spinning Coaster, a Beijing Jiuhua spinning mouse and a powered Dragon coaster called Sliding Dragon. While the rides are mostly basic rides here, there are a lot of them and a lot of other things to see and do. A ticket for 138 RMB (very reasonable at about $20 USD) gets visitors admission to pretty much everything in the park. One thing I noticed on the safety rules sign of Spinning Coaster were the words "you must be able to fit in the restraints to ride". This is a much better way of operating a coaster than placing an unreasonable height or weight restriction on the ride. I only hope that more Chinese parks adopt this policy. I have now upped my coaster count to 1172 coasters. I am returning to this park after having been here in 2011. It used to be called Successful Land. This castle is the first thing you see when you enter the park. This nice bridge is directly behind the castle. This is near the front of the park. When I was here before, this area did not have any rides. It has changed a lot. There is a dark ride here. This small bridge is in an area of the park that recreates an old town from over 100 years ago. I love scenery like this. There is a glass bottom bridge here. Gliding Dragon is a powered coaster. It is a twin helix ride. A flume has been added since my last visit. There is a Beijing Jiuhua spinning coaster here. It is called Spinning Coaster. I enjoy this type of coaster. Here it is in action to finish the TR.

July and August of 2018: Given the way things have been going, I knew I had good alternatives to another summer in China where, among other things, foreigners can't even get something simple such as a motel room without being turned away. I decided to go back to America for five weeks and enjoy simple things such as being able to do a five minute banking procedure that only takes five minutes (none of this three hour crap for a simple banking visit like I have grown used to). I visited parks, one county fair, played some music and saw friends and family members. Check out my comments and notes about each park below. Marshall County Fair (Warren, Minnesota) My reason for going here was to see Diamond Rio. As it turns out, the midway had a wacky worm coaster. This would be my first coaster of the trip. Valleyfair I had been to Valleyfair before. This place has changed a lot. Since my last visit, the powered coaster from Dorney has been moved here and Renegade has been built. Some flat rides have been moved around. One highlight of the visit was talking to a supervisor about Excalibur. According to him, the ride will stay a while longer as it is still popular enough and is not costing the park money. Although Valleyfair is not a large park, there is still a lot to do here and it is one of my favorite parks. Mt. Olympus I stopped in the Wisconsin Dells before, but it was in winter. I am very happy to finally experience this place. The kiddie coaster is off limits to adults, but there are four wooden coasters here. Cyclops, Pegasus and Zeus have a lot of potential, but need some work. Hades 360 is an awesome ride. One sour note is that all of the coasters appear to only operate with one train. That is not good on a Sunday. Kings Island I grew up going here and have now visited 98 times. Mystic Timbers is an awesome ride that turns the brake run into a themed environment. The ride is easily the best wooden coaster in the park. Diamondback is a great coaster as well. Banshee is one of the best inverted coasters I have ridden. Bat, Adventure Express, Racer and Flight Of Fear have been long time favorites of mine and it was nice to enjoy them again. Idlewild This was probably my favorite park in Pennsylvania. At least it used to be. Wild Mouse was closed on my visit and many of my favorite attractions have been closed and removed. Rollo Coaster, despite the new trains, is still great fun. Cedar Point Steel Vengeance is an excellent ride. I waited nearly 2 hours for it. With that being said, Blue Streak is still the best ride there. Maverick is actually a fantastic coaster that is marred by low capacity. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to put 12 passenger trains on a coaster in a park with the types of crowds CP gets? Valravn is the best dive coaster I have ridden. Magnum XL-200 is still a force to be reckoned with. Gatekeeper seemed a bit rough, maybe I should give it a second chance sometime. Raptor has gotten rougher over the years. Camden Park This is where my love affair with coasters officially began. The Big Dipper still looks as ragged as ever, but it is still great fun. Slingshot was the first of its type of coaster that I have ridden. It is a nice ride for what it is. The Whip is still the best Whip that I have been on. I hope Camden stays around for many years. Carowinds I have been wanting to get here here to ride Fury 325. This ride did not disappoint at all. Carowinds has added a lot of flat rides since my last visit. I can remember a total of about four flat rides being here when I first visited. The most interesting thing I learned about this visit was about the Carolina Cyclone. I did not know that it held the record for the most inversions when it opened. What many may regard as just a basic Arrow Looper was, in 1980, a world class ride. Santa's Village The Azoosment Park I arrived in Chicago a few days before my flight and decided to go to Santa's Village. This is a small park just outside of Chicago. There are two coasters here. There is a zyklon and a wacky worm. The zyklon is called Super Cyclone and is a basic portable coaster. The wacky worm is called Wacky Worm and would round out my coastering on this trip, which is appropriate as my first coaster was a wacky worm at the fair in Minnesota. One sour note here is that I was denied a ride on the Scrambler due to the No Single Riders policy. I informed the ride op that I was not single and showed him my wedding ring. He still would not let me ride. At least this BS is few and far between in MOST COUNTRIES. All good things must come to an end and I am now back in China. I have learned how to handle life here. A couple of months ago, I has asked to perform at a fundraiser for Chinese children. As I have been turned away from motels many times because I am a foreigner and China Post refuses to deliver my mail most of time, I politely turned them down and as I have been turned away from coasters in China after I was told I could ride (and Chinese enthusiasts can't understand why I would be angry about that), I spent my money at parks outside of China this summer. I have now ridden 1170 coasters. No Sneetch is the best on the beach, but some are certainly better than others. My first point of interest is the Marshall County Fair in Warren, Minnesota. I have not seen one of these in ages. There was a Wacky Worm here. It would be my first coaster of the trip. I love these guys. Diamond Rio always puts on a great show. It was my 12th time to see them. This is my Debbie at the fair. This was my second stop on the trip. Where am I? I am at Valleyfair. This is my favorite ride here. The good word from a supervisor is that is safe and will not be removed for a while. This is the king of carnival rides. I remember riding this at Dorney. Wild Thing is great fun. I like this ride. It is excellent. I wish more of these had been built. The mouse had the longest wait due to low capacity. Renegade if a very intense GCI. Check it out when you visit Valleyfair. High Roller gives the park a traditional feel. It is a fun out and back from the park's opening year. Corkscrew still awaits visitors. It is the only looping coaster at Valleyfair. My next coaster outing took me to this place. This is the only really good coaster in the park. This is a fun ride, but a little rough. It was the first coaster built here. Here is my wife at Kings Island. Here I am enjoying my favorite mine train. This is still as turbulent as ever, but I like it. Diamondback really adds a lot to the park. I would take this boat the Blennerhasset Island on the Ohio River. This is the mansion on the island. I went to Idlewild the next day. This was my first ride of the day. This is still a fun ride. The new train looks horrible. It is my favorite junior woodie. Rollo Coaster is fun. These are fun. I will visit this place today. Everybody is talking about this ride. It is good, but not the greatest. This is the greatest! Blue Streak is still the best ride in the park. I love how basic the station is. I hope it runs forever. Valravn is excellent. This is another ride that I hope stays forever. This is the original family suspended coaster. This was very popular the day I was there. Big thrills in a small space. It almost reaches the sky. This is a fun place. I have not been to this place in 17 years. Is it a coaster? Yes. It is. Here is Camden's newest coaster. It has spinning cars. The log flume still awaits. I can still remember the year they added it. The Big Dipper is still the king of this park. This is the ride that started my love affair with coasters. This is one of the newest rides at the park. This is another new ride here. This is the last ride of its type. During my adventure, I managed to stop by the place where Buddy Holly gave his final concert. Another coaster outing took me to the home of this thing. Fury 325 is also here. It certainly lives up to its hype! It is a fun ride. I rode this here and at Geauga Lake. Curse you Dick! It is hard to believe that this is Carowinds' major wooden coaster. Here is the world's first flying coaster at it's current home. What is happening in the upper right hand corner? In 1980, this was a world class thrill ride. It had more inversions than any other coaster when it opened. How much longer will this ride "stand"? Before heading back to China, I had time to stop at Santa's Village. This is the main attraction at this place. It is an okay ride, but nothing special, unless you do not have a lot of experience with coasters. Santa doesn't need a sleigh. He has a Troika oika oika. This is one of the first attractions you come to upon entering the park. This would be my last coaster of the trip. My first coaster on this trip was a wacky worm and so is my last coaster. This will finish the TR.

You are correct about the greenery in the parks. This is exactly why I chose to include Evergreen Park in this TR even though it does not have a coaster.

Yes. This one is a bit bumpy. It was copied from the Japanese rides. Most Chinese designed coasters are a bit turbulent, but some of the newer designs are smoother.

Many parts of the park, including the rides area were very nice when you consider the location of the park.

July 6, 2018: Sanlingshan Forest Park in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China I was on my way home and had a layover in Zhanjiang, so I went to Sanlingshan Forest Park. This park is a few miles away from the city and is out in the country. It is amazing how different the area is just a few miles away from the city center. It is very poor. The area around the park was very dirty. The park itself is pleasant enough and has a collection of rides. Rides are 20 RMB each (about $3 USD) 80 RMB for a pass that allows people to ride each ride once. There is a jungle mouse coaster here called Jungle Flying Squirrel. It became coaster #1147 for me to ride and Sanlingshan Park became park #586 for me to visit. I will visit Sanlingshan Forest Park today. You can see why it gets the Forest Park name. The lake here is big, but looks less than impressive for some reason. There are rides here. There is one of these things. Here are some of the other rides at the park. Another day...another jungle mouse. It is so hard to travel in China without encountering one of these. This one features the most common layout of this type of coaster. This will finish the TR.

Thanks. I am actually loving this part of China. People here seem more polite in terms of not pushing and shoving their way onto the buses and such.

July 5, 2018: Evergreen Park and White Sand Gate Park in Haikou, Hainan, China I am spending a couple of days in the city of Haikou on China's holiday island of Hainan. There are a couple of very nice parks in this lovely city. The first park I visited today was Wanlu Park. Wanlu means Evergreen in English and it is a beautiful park and there are three different areas of rides, but none have a coaster. With that being said, this park is nice for restaurants and entertainment in the evening. After Wanlu, I want to Baishamen Park. Baishamen means White Sand Gate in English. There are two coasters here and there is a nice beach just to the north of the park. Big Coaster is a loopscrew and I got to ride this one, unlike the three I was turned away from last July for being "too tall" due to retarded park rules. It was a bit rough through the corkscrew. There is also a powered coaster that I rode. It is for families. A jungle mouse is supposed to be here, but I didn't see it. I only saw the foundation for it. This park has a beach area that not to many people visit. If you want to have a beach to yourself or almost all to yourself, this is the place to be. I have now ridden 1146 different coasters. Hainan is an amazing place. Everywhere I have been in Haikou has been clean and the people have been very friendly. It is probably the nicest place I have visited in China as far as cleanliness, friendly people and decent transportation. I am at Wanlu Park. Wanlu in English is Evergreen. This is a nice park that has some rides, but does not have a coaster. There is a big Ferris Wheel at Wanlu Park. There is also a giant wheel at White Sand Gate Park. There is a beach here. I was in the water when I took this photo. There is a powered coaster here. The kiddie coaster has a name-o. It is a twin helix ride, but a little bit different. The jungle mouse has a cloaking device and I couldn't find the entrance, so I gave it a miss. I had to get the carousel shot in for this park. A loopscrew is here. I got to ride this one. It wasn't like last summer where I was turned away from three of them in about four weeks' time. It is made in China. It was a bit rough through the corkscrew. This will finish the TR.