Dolphins, a Log Flume, and Hu Jintao in Zhongshan: The History and Legacy of China's First Large-Scale Modern Amusement Park

Near one end of the Changjiang Reservoir in Zhongshan, Guangdong, exists a place of merriment, magic, and water. But when I recently passed the Changjiang Water World (长江水世界) park on a foggy afternoon, it was closed — as it is every day this time of year due to the colder weather.

At least a sculpture at its main entrance is still approachable.

A short walk away is the hard-to-miss entrance for the Changjiang Water World parking lot.

Unsurprisingly, there were no cars parked there at the time.

The other side of the parking lot is bordered by the Changjiang Reservoir's dam. Yes, this is your place for empty parking lot photos.

And the fun doesn't stop there. One of the historical photos displayed at Zhongshan's Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall captures a moment at the amusement park which previously existed at Changjiang Water World's current site.

Chinese caption for the photo:
"1984年5月24日，时任中共中央总书记胡耀邦在时任广东省省长梁灵光陪同下视察中山，图为他在中山长江乐园验“激流探险”

According to the photo's caption, Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦), who then held the highest office in Communist Party of China as its general secretary, and Liang Lingguang (梁灵光), who was then Governor of Guangdong, are checking out a log flume ride at the Changjiang Playland* (长江乐园), which had opened the year before in 1983. Hu riding a potentially soaking ride while wearing a suit strikes me as bold. In fact, according to accounts of the time, the 69-year-old Hu insisted upon conquering the water ride despite concerns over safety and it not being part of the original plans.

Hu was presumably not visiting simply for fun, but instead because the Changjiang Playland was the first large-scale amusement park with modern rides in China and seen as a potential model for others. The park also helped Zhongshan — where the first bumper cars were made in China – grow into the largest base of amusement park ride production in the country. They even make log flume rides there.

Perhaps the park inspired too much for its own good though. Soon the fun faded away and in 1997 the park closed, in part due to competition from other parks which opened in the region. Aging equipment didn't help either, although it was good enough to be sent to Leshan in Sichuan province.

In 2005, the site experienced a rebirth when the Changjiang Romantic Water World (长江浪漫水城) opened. The romance didn't last for long, and in 2009 the site was closed for redevelopment once more. In 2010 the first phase of the Changjiang Water World opened.

That park remains in existence today, as does Zhongshan's amusement park ride industry. But unfortunately, a list of rides at Changjiang Water World indicates a log flume ride no longer exists. So there goes any chance for a contemporary version of Hu's daring act at the park.








*Some sites now use "Changjiang Paradise" — a reasonable translation — for the park's English name, but according to photos of various old entrance tickets (see here and here) the park itself used "Changjiang Playland" as its English name.

A Photo of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Zhongshan, China

I may have never seen a photo of President Hu Jintao looking at a fish if it weren't for the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Zhongshan. So it seems fitting to now share a recent photo of the building.

While there are many memorial halls for Sun Yat-sen in China, this one is special since the city of Zhongshan, another name for Sun, is named after him and he was born in one of its villages. The exhibits inside are free to visit and include many other photos as well. As mentioned in the fish photo post, one of those will appear here later.

Hu Jintao Looking at a Fish

A piece about a site in Zhongshan I had planned to post yesterday turned out to be more challenging to put together than expected. I think I finally sorted out the loose ends which had bothered me, but I won't get around to finishing it today.

Instead, today I will share a photo that tangentially relates to the future post.

Photo's caption:
"2004年12月21日，时任中共中央总书记，国家主席，中央军委主席胡锦涛视察中山市食品水产进出口集团，时任中央政治局委员，广东省委书记张德江等陪同"

The photo in the above photo is displayed at Zhongshan's Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. According to the caption, it was taken in 2004 and captures a moment as Hu Jintao (far right), then general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and president of China, inspected the Zhongshan Foodstuffs and Aquatic Import & Export Group Co., Ltd. The caption doesn't say anything about whether the visit was a success, but with all those smiles it looks like at least this part went quite well, at least for the non-fish entities.

I now see that the photo relates in yet another rather tangential fashion to the unfinished future post. So I will add that it includes another exciting photo of a past Chinese leader displayed at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and has an indirect fish theme. Most importantly, I can now rest in peace knowing that I have a "Hu Jintao Looking at a Fish" post.

Names and Views of the Changjiang Reservoir in Zhongshan, China

After passing by some flowers on a recent foggy day in Zhongshan, I found a good view of the dam at the Changjiang Reservoir (长江水库).

Changjiang is the name of a famous river. The name may not ring any bells, and that's probably because the river is typically named the Yangtze River (扬子江) in English. The short story about the river's English name is it is based on just one of its sections. Using China's current system for romanizing Chinese words, that section would instead now be named the Yangzi River.

But the Yangtze River never comes close to Zhongshan, and there's more to the story about how the Changjiang Reservoir got its name:

Why is the reservoir named Changjiang (the Yangzi River) although it has nothing to do with the mother river - Changjiang. According to a legend, about 300 years ago, a Mr. Long and his nephew came from their hometown Jiangxi province to farm in this wildness. They named the place they resided "Changgang" (literally, it means a [series] of hills) because on their way from Jiangxi to Zhongshan, they walked [past] one hill after another. To commemorate their hometown Jiangxi, they changed "Changgang" to "Changjiang". (In some Chinese dialects, Gang is the [homophone] of Jiang.)

Despite the story, journalist Jiang Shangyu (江上雨) doesn't think the name lives up to the reservoir's splendor (link in Chinese with many photos of the reservoir), and their argument was published in the Southern Daily newspaper (link in Chinese without many photos). The suggestion was to change the name to Qingling Lake (庆龄湖) in honor of Soong Ching-ling (宋庆龄), a prominent past political figure in China and the third wife of Sun Yat-sen — the "founding father of the Republic of China". In China, the name Sun Zhongshan is commonly used for Sun Yat-sen, and that's where the city of Zhongshan gets its name.

Apparently Jiang's suggestion had an impact. A few signs near the reservoir display the Qingling Lake name.

However, it doesn't appear to be the official name. According to online maps the name remains the Changjiang Reservoir. And that is the only name used on a Zhongshan government website (example in Chinese).

The body of water is rather large and surrounded by much greenery. Unfortunately, at least where and when I arrived all I could find with views that was open to the public was a small area in front of the Scenic Holiday Hotel. But I could at least spot an island through the fog from one vantage point.

So I don't have much to share in terms of photos, though I am glad I made it there. And I will conclude with one of the more picturesque trees I came across at the reservoir, lake, or whatever you'd like to call it.

Flowers in Zhongshan

Last year I posted a photo of several red silk-cotton flowers I saw on the ground in Jiangmen. I identified them as coming from the Bombax ceiba tree, which is known by a variety names. Later I shared photos of the flowers being collected at a park and drying outside at two nearby locations. In both cases, the flowers may have been destined to become an ingredient in Five-Flowers tea.

Several days ago in Zhongshan I noticed a different type of flower. I don't plan to write as much about them as I did about the red silk-cotton flowers, though I do hope to do a short piece on the near Changjiang Reservoir. But since the flowers caught my eye, I will take this opportunity to add to the flowers-in-Guangdong theme.

A Generational Meme in China

I will keep this short and sweet since these tweets by Kassy Cho speak for themselves:

this Chinese four generations meme is so wholesome omg pic.twitter.com/bozR6rB93w

— kassy cho (@kassy) January 4, 2019

the challenge involves four generations of family members making an appearance so a son calls his dad who calls his dad who calls his dad pic.twitter.com/Q6UrBlIbWH

— kassy cho (@kassy) January 4, 2019

A compilation by Victor Sun on YouTube includes these examples and more:

That's all.

A Countdown for the New Year that Didn't Happen in Zhongshan

After finishing my last post of 2018, I headed out to see see what the final moments of 2018 and the first moments of 2019 would bring in Zhongshan. I didn't expect the city would have anything even close to the spectacular New Year's fireworks I saw last year in Taipei, but I figured I could stumble upon something.

As I walked towards the Central Power Plaza, a shopping mall at one end of the popular Sun Wen West Road Pedestrian street, I noticed that both the vehicular and foot traffic was far heavier than usual so late at night. And when I finally arrived at the shopping area, I saw that the Christmas tree there was still up and the large mostly open square was packed with people far more densely than I had ever seen it before.

So I joined the masses. Midnight was mere minutes away, and I asked one couple why so many people had gathered there. They said they had no idea themselves and had similarly joined in hoping to catch whatever there might be to catch.

I then noticed that a number of people appeared to be video recording a large digital display on a building across the street.

Aha . . .

But nothing ever appeared on the display. And soon a small number of people, presumably with the help of their mobile phones, simultaneously counted down from ten to zero.

Nothing happened. After a few moments quite a few people emitted sighs of disappointment. Suddenly, what sounded like fireworks livened things up, but there were no visual signs of them in any direction. After just a few explosions all was back to as it was before, except now people were quickly dispersing.

After milling about a bit, I asked a group of young women if they knew why everybody had gathered. I was luckier this time, and they explained that in past years, including last year, a countdown to the end of the year would appear on the large screen. They had assumed the same would once again happen this year. The one woman said she suspected the government had decided it wasn't safe anymore and had canceled it. I asked her what she thought about the safety issue and she said "Well, I came here. I don't think there's a problem."

Like others, they seemed deflated. So I told them I sort of found the experience exciting. After they asked why, I explained that I had never before experienced anything quite like this on New Year's Eve— everybody tightly packed together anticipating a big countdown and celebration and then . . . mostly nothing, not even the countdown. It was almost surreal. I could now say I certainly had had yet another special experience to bring in a new year.

At least my perspective appeared to amuse them.

So I wished them a happy new year and headed away. I knew the perfect thing to do. I would have my first 2019 drink at a bar I hadn't visited before with a name that seemed to describe much about the past year, including its last moments.

Fittingly for its name, after a long walk I was surprised to find it closed.

Yet again, somebody felt amused.

Happy New Year!

A Game of Xiangqi, a Shop, and a Look Back at 2018's Travels

Soon 2018 will be over in China. For the last post of the year here, it would be hard to top one with another photo of people playing xiangqi. This evening on Mazhou Street (麻洲街) in Zhongshan I stumbled upon a lively game:

The player wearing red slippers had to temporarily leave the game. After all, nobody else was around to take payments at the small convenience store across the street.

For me 2018 began in Taipei, from where in mid-February I made my way to Jiangmen in Guangdong province via Macau and Zhuhai. I spent two months in Jiangmen and of course saw some xianqi games — whether they were during the Lunar New Year or accompanied by various forms of smoking. Then I headed to Yunfu where I explored wonderful karst topography and a historical street. Next, in Zhaoqing I also explored much history and nature. Getting caught up on other matters meant I haven't yet shared much about the city here, though at least I managed to share my impression of the wonton's at a restaurant there with a logo rather similar to McDonald's. Similarly, I didn't manage to post much about Qingyuan, where I saw a rainbow for the first time in a while.

Next I returned to a familiar location, Guangzhou, whose towers provided a stark contrast with my previous recent locations. Then it was on to Hong Kong where I caught some FIFA World Cup football in a mall and, of course, more xiangqi. After Hong Kong, I returned to the land of the Great Firewall and had some peculiar problems using some sites it blocks while I was in Shenzhen, though at least my location had a striking view. I had growing suspicions the issue was quite local. In fact, my problems were resolved after arriving in Huizhou, although the problems were only growing for some ducks there. Once again, catching up on matters and such led to me blogging very little about a city. But such was not the case when I made my way Ganzhou in Jiangxi province. During nearly two months there, I observed much burning during the Hungry Ghost Festival, more rainbows, and, yes, more xiangqi — both during the day and at night.

I then traveled from Ganzhou to Zhuhai by bus, and I finally found some Hot Chicken Wing and Wasabi Oreos to try. After Zhuhai, I moved on to yet another familiar city, Zhongshan, where I have been since. Left out of this account are various days trips I made to Macau, one of which allowed me to see the Macau Lunar New Year Festival.

Personally, some of the most unexpected parts of the year for me was the amount of time I spent in Guangdong province and that I never made it farther north than Ganzhou. On several occasions I planned heading much farther north, including to Shijiazhuang in Hebei province and relatively nearby locations, but life is complex — sort of like a game of xiangqi.

There is so much from the past year I still want to share and write about. Hopefully at least some of that happens later. But now, I will spend the last half hour of 2018 by exploring a tiny bit more.  

A Protected Guardian Lion in Zhongshan

Signs of the Christmas spirit in Zhongshan, China, weren't difficult to find on Christmas Eve, particularly in commercial areas. However, in most of the city as I walked around things looked as they could on any other night. So on that note, here is a photo of something I saw on Christmas Eve that didn't have anything to do with Christmas yet still wasn't something I see every day.

While I attempted to take a photo of a Chinese guardian lion with a helmet on its head, a man working inside came out and removed the helmet. It was clear he assumed I would prefer a photo without the helmet and was trying to help. So I explained that the helmet wasn't a problem and I actually liked its placement. Appearing to be amused, he smiled and returned the helmet to where it had been. Afterwards I took the above photo.

I guess even Chinese guardian lions can benefit from some extra protection. They can also be a convenient place to leave a helmet.

Apples, Trees, and Santa Hats: More Christmas Scenes from Zhongshan, China

During this blog's life, I have shared Christmas scenes from a variety of cities in China such as, in chronological order, Wuhan, Putian, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Hong Kong, and Wenzhou. The Wuhan post includes general information about the holiday in China that still largely holds. To complement the scenes of a Christmas Midnight Mass in Zhongshan I recently witnessed this year, below I will share a set of photos capturing some other aspects of how the holiday was celebrated in Zhongshan, even if just for fun with little or no religious connotation. The post isn't as extensive as many of the earlier posts and none of the displays I saw were as elaborate as the somewhat surreal Star Wars Christmas display at a mall in Shanghai several years ago. But they offer a peak at the holiday in yet another city in China.

Not at all surprising, one of the first signs of the holiday I noticed on Christmas Eve night were two young women setting up a display of traditional-in-China Christmas apples in decorative boxes for sale.

I wondered about their choice of location in the midst of a small informal night market in front of Fuye Square. All I can say is that just as I was about to walk away they already had potential customers.

Not very far away on the Qijiang Bridge, I saw more people selling Christmas apples.

At the time they were keeping an eye out for relevant authorities some other vendors thought soon might be on the way to stop such activities.

On the other side of the bridge, the Central Power Plaza shopping mall had a large Christmas tree outside.

Unsurprisingly, it was a popular location to take photos, including for a group of women wearing Santa hats.

On the nearby Sun Wen West Road Pedestrian Street, more Santa hats could be found.

On Christmas Day, I stopped by Lihe Plaza. In addition to the Christmas tree outside, there were also giant reindeers and a Santa Claus above the main entrance to the shopping mall.

In one open air pedestrian area there was a market set up with a theme mixing Christmas and Pihotrain — a young Shenzhen-based company with Disney-like ambitions.

Most of the vendors in the market were similar to those I have seen in the same location when the market has had other themes. But at least one vendor added a Christmas touch with decorations.

And one vendor even added Christmas apples to their selection.

We're back to the apples, so this seems like a good time to say, yet again, "that is all", at least for Zhongshan. Some day / year I hope to share past Christmas scenes that never made it here from at least two cities not mentioned above. Until then, enjoy the apples.

Scenes During Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at a Catholic Church in Zhongshan, China

Several days ago on Christmas Eve I stopped by the Immaculate Conception Church (圣母无原罪堂), also known as the Shiqi Catholic Church (石岐天主教堂), in Zhongshan, China, while it was holding Midnight Mass. Below are a few photos I took along with some very brief commentary. When I looked inside, the church was packed, and people were singing.

Outside the church, people could be found praying as well.

Some took advantage of the holiday photographic opportunities.

There were at least two children handing out packets of peanuts and candies.

One girl outside was wearing red horns, which I have seen on Christmas Eve before.

Similar to when I visited a church in Quanzhou, Fujian, on Christmas Eve six years ago, there were a number of people wearing clothing identifying they were there to help.

Also similar to Quanzhou, there was a clear presence of relevant authorities in uniform, though far fewer — not especially surprising since this church in Zhongshan is smaller.

And there was one thing I didn't see in Quanzhou which stood out. The recent growth in the use of QR codes to make payments or transfer money was on display.

Long story short, my sense was that that some people were interested in observing the religious aspects of the holiday while others, especially those outside, were more interested in less religious aspects or simply curious. Midnight Mass ended at 11 p.m. but some people were still there more than 15 minutes later when I left after a helpful discussion with one of the assistants.

That's all. Later I will share some other scenes of Christmas spirit in Zhongshan, some of course including the traditional Christmas apples.

Second Floor Cafe Views in Zhongshan, Hengyang, and Ho Chi Minh City

My view from a cafe in Zhongshan this afternoon:

Similar to when I looked outside from a cafe in Hengyang, Hunan, one afternoon four years ago . . .

. . . the experience reminded me of looking out another 2nd floor window at a cafe in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, one morning five years ago.

As in Hengyang, the unexpected connection provided much to ponder.