Out-of-the-Way Amusements: Shangri-La Paradise, Taiwan

I finish my posts about last year's Taiwan trip with the first place I visited: Shangri-La Paradise. It's a small theme park with a large garden located almost in the middle of nowhere.

To get there from Taiwan, I took a local train to a small, unmanned station, where I thought I could take a bus the 2-3km to the park. Asking around, it seems that there is no bus - perhaps they lied to me (, but that doesn't really matter. I asked at the police station and a taxi was called. I think this is the only taxi in Zaociao. Anyway, it wasn't expensive compared to Japanese or US taxis, and I arrived at the park pretty quickly.

 As you may notice from my other posts, several of Taiwan's parks have large gardens or estates, usually similar to European gardens. This park was no different, and one has to walk down a hill and then through the garden to get to the rest of the park. However, a shuttle train delivered me to the rest of the park pretty quickly. I'm not sure how often it runs.

 The garden is quite nice, though the weather wasn't very accomodating. A small bug decided to come out and enjoy a nice breeze.

 Carefully shaped shrubbery is scattered around the garden. But I'm not really here for that. I'm here for one thing.

 Blizzard is the park's only coaster. I don't know why I bothered to come all the way out to this park for one little coaster, but here I was, at 9 AM, looking to get a credit.

 It's a basic coaster that takes a long time to reach the top of the lift.

 Then it slowly inches its way off the edge and coasts around a simple layout before returning to the station. I don't know why all the riders avoided the front. Maybe it's because the coaster goes so slow at first? I think I rode the coaster only once or twice.

 The coaster is located next to a murky looking tube-boat ride. I'm not sure how sanitary the water is, but I wasn't planning on riding anyway.

 Closer to the front of the park is a large building with a bunch of other rides. There isn't a lot to choose from, but the circular ride on the left side of the screen was fun. It spins slowly in a circle and bounces up and down a bit, the goal usually being to throw you from your seat. They weren't successful on my ride - a handful of were on it at the time but we all hung on tight.

 Here are a photo from the ground of some riders waiting to start.

 Next to it is one of these spinny carnival rides. It's not that interesting to me, so I passed.

 The building, which is more of a pavilion, has a large stage and seating area which has a few shows. And a slow balloon ride around the inside of the building - it goes outside on the opposite side of the building for a little while but due to the trees you don't see much.

Upstairs in one part of the building is a bowling alley and arcade. You could probably watch the show from the railing too.

 China is famous for pandas, and Taiwan is almost China, so it makes sense there are random pandas here.

 Even hula dancing pandas surrounded by happy cows!

 Those pandas sure look like they are having a lot of fun!

 Walking back toward the garden and the exit, I saw the water park area with a castle. It wasn't operational when I was there, but given the overcast weather it probably wouldn't have been busy. That said, it looked like it was closed for a period of time as I think the pools were drained or at least quite low.

There isn't a whole lot to do at the park, but my tight schedule that day allowed me only a very limited amount of time. If I had had more time, I probably would have stayed to see a show. Also, it seems that the park as a whole is much larger than I was able to see, and there might be some historical or cultural artifacts to look at. And then there's the garden which is great for strolling.

I must say the staff here was very friendly, especially what must have been a manager working in the front office. He was very accommodating given the serious language barrier and everyone was very helpful in getting me toward the rides. On the same note, since I left so early, the same manager gave me two return passes for free which I hope I am able to use at some point in the future, because I'd love to spend more time at the park.

The park is open from 9-5 daily, with admission at NT$400-500. The closest rail stations are Zaoqiao and Fengfu. I highly recommend having the park's name written (in Chinese) along with a Chinese language map, and be prepared to ask for a taxi at the police station in Zaoqiao. As I mentioned, there might be a bus; you can ask at the tourist information center in Taipei. If you're going just for the coaster, you can be in and out pretty quickly, but it is a time eater due to transportation. The shows look interesting though and it might be worth it to stay a few hours and enjoy the rest of the park too!

That should wrap up my Taiwan trip! After nearly 40 posts since late July, I've finally reported on all the locations I visited and the experiences I have had. While the trip had its ups and downs, overall I had a good time there is still a lot I want to do or even return to. But there's still a lot of Asia to explore, and next year I hope my travels will bring me to Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea (for a return trip!). And then there's Beijing, Shanghai, Vietnam, Malaysia...

The Mini World: Window on China Theme Park in Taiwan

My favorite toys growing up were the models. I built towns and had my own 3D Sim City using Hot Wheels, Micro Machines, Legos, and the occasional train set. It seems that playing with your hands and building models is only for old retired men or little boys in America, but Asians love little things. It's easy to find stores selling model trains, especially - and they aren't the cheap boxed sets you leave under the tree for your preschooler. So it should come as no surprise that in addition to Taipei's Miniatures Museum, an entire theme park is full of recreated famous buildings and landscapes from around the world.

 Don't worry, this theme park has roller coasters too. But the first thing you see on the way to the rides is a miniature mountain packed with rail lines.

 And behind the mountain lies mini-Taiwan. We'll be back later.

 To get to the rest of the park, visitors board a miniature train (well, similar to the kind of train you'd find at Disneyland) that travels through a farm. I don't remember what they were growing here.

 Finally a ride! This is a water ride, and since it had been rainy that day I didn't bother riding.

 However, I walked through the themed area, all inside, with this nice stage.

 It's a pretty high drop, and seems fun. And just like the rest of Asians, riders here wear ponchos to avoid getting wet.

 There is a giant shed/warehouse building with a bunch of rides on a few levels.

 One of the rides is a tunnel of love style boat ride! I wish I had had time to take a spin... and someone to share the ride with as well.

 There's a nice little carousel...

 And here is a photo of the Wipeout ride in action.

 Across from the boat ride is a restaurant area.

 The horse is watching you.

It's virtually impossible to take a picture of the first roller coaster - Laser Blaster. It's a kid's coaster that runs around inside a pitch-black building. You enter through this neon-lighted entrance in the building. Anyway, it's fun enough for one spin, but I wanted to find the other as well. I just had to find it...

 As I continued heading back to find the roller coaster, I found myself in America. I knew the park was huge, but... Anyway, this is Florida!

 New York sure has a lot of greenery.

 With the government shutdown, there aren't as many people at the monuments...

 The park has a Ferris wheel in the very back, which I reached before finding the second coaster. So I took a spin to get my bearings. They had this kid's ride that looked better from the air than the ground.

 Rock'n Tug!

 Safari train!

 Hand-powered cart ride! I wish the lines hadn't been so long. This park was pretty busy, so I didn't get to ride many of the attractions I probably would have with shorter waits.

 Go for a spin on a strawberry?

 Jumping Star!

Okay, so it turns out the park does have a second coaster, which was really busy. And due to them running pretty slow and my own impatience, I didn't get a picture of it. It's amazing that I took hundreds of pictures at this park but didn't get any of the two roller coasters! I'd like to visit again sometime...

 Meanwhile, back to the models. Here's a building. Is this the Globe Theatre?

 The models are pretty detailed. The European section was scattered around some small hills. As you can see, almost all of them were labeled in several languages.

 I don't remember what most of the buildings are, though.

 I had a lot of fun practicing my photography skills.

 I doubt you could get angles like this on the actual buildings without cranes or helicopters, or access to convenient windows across the street.

 I have never seen a building like this in person. I thought it was a mosque. Jason thinks it's something else (see comments below)...

 Buildings have people, too.

 Temple...

 There are several Japanese buildings. Is this Himeji Castle?

 Sadly, this model doesn't have open windows.

 I tried to work the macro settings on my camera but I had some difficulty. I think the lighting (overcast) didn't help much either.

 Carp! Maybe this is Hiroshima Castle.

 The models with buildings from Taiwan and China are more detailed, as one would expect. In front of the memorial, an entire army is assembled.

 In a nearby plaza, a group of men practice tai chi?

 There are American tourists in the Taiwan models!

 Trasportation isn't ignored.  Here's a four-lane highway with cars that move along the road.

And a monorail which runs through the docks (notice the blue cranes in the background?). There's also a replica of the airport!

If I had the time and desire, it would be an interesting project to photograph all of the buildings and document them. But I don't have the time in Taiwan or desire.

Anyway, Window On China is accessed by bus from Taipei or Zhongli. Buses from Taipei offer a combo discount ticket for the trip and admission to the park. The park opens at 9 or 9:30, with rides opening an hour later; rides close at 4pm on weekdays and 4:45 on weekends. Admission is NT$799 (NT$499 promotional rate - whatever that means). Be aware that the park can be busy and the rides have slow throughput.

I have yet to visit Japan's miniatures theme park - Tobu World Square, located in Nikko. I had plans to go next weekend but those might be canceled.