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The Golden Horse amusement park
Leading Chinese ride manufacturer Golden Horse Amusement Equipment has this season returned a profit at a former state-owned amusement park in its native Guangdong province. Golden Horse took over the facility over at the tail end of 2004.
The Guangzhou Children’s Park, in the city of the same name, boasts a prime site alongside the banks of the Zhujiang River and at the intersection of the Renmin and Yide Roads. However, until it was acquired by Golden Horse, its attractions, like the turnover, were only modest.
The new owner has since made the most of the 11,146 square metre space, much of it previously green field, and added new equipment and theming. The park takes its inspiration from nature, but interprets it in colourful, cartoon style. The lucky mascot of the park is honeybee and to enter guests must pass beneath the arch of a rainbow.
Once inside, the selection of rides found is, as you’d expect, all by Golden Horse and includes the Bubble Ball, Spinning Boat, UFO,Air Bicycle, Climbing Car, Luxury Go-round, Traffic City, Hopper Dolphin, Ali Mount Train, a net-free bumper car installation and many more.
A puppet show and science building complement the offering, and there is also a selection of traditional playground attractions such as a swing, seesaw and slide. Parking is available for 300 cars.
Last year, the park turned over nearly RMB 16 million (€1.6 million) and broke even on the new investment. Turnover for the third quarter of 2006 was nearly RMB 2 million, down on the same period last year thanks to hot weather, but at the least the facility is now making money. Attendance for July, August and September stood at just 14,000.
“It’s still an outstanding achievement for a ‘small fry’ amusement park,” contends Golden Horse director Mr Deng Zhi-Yi. If nothing else, the park serves as a convenient showroom for the products of Golden Horse Amusement Equipment.
