The World Chocolate Wonderland Theme Park in Beijing

The World Chocolate Wonderland Theme Park in Beijing began accepting customers on January 29th, 2010. Located on the north side of the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium, the theme park will be the first chocolate theme park in China. The Chocolate Wonderland is meant to provide a visual feast for tourists from all over the world.

Organisers are hoping that Beijing’s World Chocolate Wonderland, on the Olympic Green near the Bird’s Nest Stadium, will boost the chocolate market in China, where the candy is not as popular as it is in Western countries.

Tourists who are interested in the craft of chocolate making will be taught by expert chocolatiers. The Chocolate Wonderland is built to allow visitors to “see, touch, taste and smell the delicacy on their own”.

The 20 000m² venue consisted of five indoor halls, including the World’s Chocolate Hall, World’s Candy Hall, Wonderland Theme Hall, Sweet Experience Hall and Sweet Gift Hall, and the outdoor activity areas of Sweet Stages and Sweet Shopping Street.

In the theme park, tourists will be able to see the lifelike chocolate-made miniature of many famous China attractions, such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Terra Cotta Warriors, chocolate Mogao Caves, and the world’s first chocolate replica of the painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival.

The BMW, located in the same hall, attracted huge attention. According to a report in the official China Daily newspaper, 10 craftsmen needed four tonnes of chocolate and six months to make the car.

In the World’s Chocolate Hall, filed past exhibits detailing chocolate traditions in countries such as France, Switzerland and Belgium. At last, you can see a huge array of chocolate fountains sent 1.5 tonnes of the smooth, dark liquid spilling in various directions – recalling Roald Dahl’s beloved book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. “The break sound of the deluxe chocolate is clear and crisp.

In the World’s Candy Hall, it’s colourful. There are all kinds of beautiful, delicious candies, such as candy Jungle, candy animals. It’s a Fairy-tale candy house.

In the Sweet Experience Hall and Sweet Gift Hall, you can buy many cute gifts, which are not able to easily buy in shopping malls or supermarkets! You also can make gifts by yourself or with your family, friends, it’s all unique!

In the Outdoor activity areas of Sweet Stages, techno music blared out as clowns performed tricks with audience members on a stage, a bouncy castle stood – empty – and people dressed in chocolate-coloured costumes milled around.

Six dolls of the World Chocolate Wonderland Theme park.

doll_chocolate_park — Top row: Qiao Qiao, Ke Ke. Middle row: Lili, Meng Meng. Bottom row: Gongzi, Yuanyuan.

The exhibit that attracted most people was the building devoted to candy, which housed interactive games and displays allowing customers to experience different sweet flavours from around the world.

At the entrance where tickets cost 80 yuan, and 60 yuan (for students or kids).

Visitors will be able to create personalized chocolate memorabilia and candy in the park while also enjoying performances, large scale stage performances, and tasting delicacies, specialty chocolates, and candy. Organisers hope to attract one million visitors to the park before it closes in April, when the weather will begin to get too warm. It will then reopen next January, with all-new displays.

Opening hours:

Weekdays: 9 am to 5:30 pm

Weekends: 9 am to 7:30 pm

It’s real? No! It’s chocolate.