Birt Family Focus

Epcot World Showcase, China Pavilion -- 10/3/02

Hi ya'll-

Today we visit the China Pavilion. This is one of my favorites in World Showcase. It is so beautifully landscaped and the buildings are just amazing.

The three tiered, round building is a reproduction of the Hall of Prayer of Good Harvest. The real thing is in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The real temple is tiled with intricate patterns. Here, Disney Imagineers screen printed hundreds of replications onto each and every tile in the Epcot building. The patterns are quite detailed and exact reproductions of the real thing. Also, this building is acoustically perfect. If you stand in the center and say something, you will hear yourself as others hear you. It's neat and weird at the same time, but fun- try it! This building houses one of the most extensive museums dedicated to the many different ethnicities found in China. It is VERY interesting. The exhibit is called Land of Many Faces and is not to be missed.

China has a 360 movie as well as the museum exhibit. It is called Wonders of China and is 19 minutes long. Some trivia I learned while visiting once- while filming this, the crew and 40 local workers had to haul equipment up to the top of Haungshan Mountain- a trek of more than 1 mile! By the way, this movie is one of those stand up deals- I hate them but endured it for this movie. It was well worth it.

The gardens here, like Japan, are very symbolic. They are not as regimented, indicating a more soulful connection to the earth and nature. The Chinese seem to prefer gardens that do not have a difinitive border, with a few specimen plants for color and impact. There is a weeping Mulberry here that looks Chinese and is over 100 years old, but it is actually from New Jersey!

There is entertainment here in addition to the museum and the movie. The Dragon Legend Acrobats are little children (and a few teens) from the Pu Yang Academy of Acrobatics in China. These kids can fold themselves up small enough to fit in the glove compartment of your car! They are simply amazing to watch- and if they are all still students, I am just plain scared of what they will be like when they finish school- they are fantastic! The other group is not to miss, either. Two lovely ladies inside the Temple play a variety of Chinese instruments. They are called Si Xian. They invite children from the audience to play the instruments with them. My DD got to go on stage and help play the Chinese Hammered Dulcimer once. They played Mary Had a Little Lamb. Who knew that was a Chinese song?

There is a restaurent here and a counter service stop as well. The restaurant- 9 Dragons- has average and ordinary Chinese/American food at high Disney Prices. Stick with the counter service for and eggroll and a bit of fried rice- it's just as good and quite a bit less pricy.

The shopping here is great as well. You can get cheap touristy junk or very beautiful Chinese art and antiques. I collect tea pots and got a beautiful little hand made ceramic addition to my collection here. It's a tea pot for one, made to be used on an open fire for traveling- very unusual. Of course, it came home with me!

They are very sweet and helpful here, but most don't speak much English- at least they don't seem to, but the person who runs the cash register gets along just fine, ;-)

We love this pavilion. Eat somewhere else, but see all the sights here- don't skip anything! Oh yes- and don't forget to stand in the middle of the Temple and say something- what a hoot!

Until next week and Norway- Uffda!!