Global Times - 02.09.2019

20 Monday September 2, 2019

LIFE

By Chen Xi in Zhuhai

A

s the familiar score from

the vampire romance movie

Twilight floated through the

air, I seemed to see main characters

Bella and Edward dancing in front

of me on the small stage decorated

with lights and green plants. On

one side of the stage, I could see a

replica of Bella’s old orange-colored

pickup truck in a corner, a reminder

of the time Edward saved Bella from

a car accident at the beginning of the

movie.

This vivid scene was on display

at Lionsgate Entertainment World,

the first movie theme park to bring

cutting-edge technology to an Asian

country.

The park is the first amusement

park built by Lionsgate, a US enter-

tainment company, in Zhuhai, South

China’s Guangdong Province. It is an

indoor interactive experience center

themed on the studio’s hit films such

as Twilight, The Hunger Games, the

Divergent series and Now You See Me.

General manager Selena Magil told

me that since the park opened on July

31, daily ticket sales have continued to

increase.

The vertical park covers four

stories in total. The customer service

center is on the first floor, while the

second floor has entertainment zones

dedicated to the films The Hunger

Games and Escape Plan. The third

floor covers Divergent, The Gods of

Egypt and Now You See Me, with the

fourth floor completely dedicated to

the popular Twilight Saga. Like many

theme parks, souvenir shops and din-

ing facilities are spread out on each

floor.

Riding with werewolves

According to Zhu Yuqun, vice

manager of the park, one of the most

popular experiences is the Midnight

Ride in the Twilight Saga zone. When

I entered the door to the ride with

five other guests, I was asked to put

on a pair of VR goggles and get on

a motorcycle. When the ride began,

I was thrust into a virtual scene in

which me and my fellow riders had to

follow a pack of werewolves through

a forest in the middle of the night to

lure out a group of vampires that the

pack would then ambush and kill.

Each guest can choose their own

path by turning the handlebars of the

motorcycle and leaning, choosing

from routes with three levels of dif-

ficulty across multiple locations. The

added vibration from the motorcycle

made the simulated high-speed

driving experience feel even more

realistic.

Although I knew I was wearing

a VR headset, the entire scene felt

so real to me. Looking down, I saw I

was wearing body armor, and riding a

yellow motorcycle as I kept pace with

the werewolves running through the

forest. As I excitedly sped through

the moonlit night, a male vampire

suddenly jumped out

and stopped me. He

showed his sharp and

bloody teeth, looking

as if he wanted to bite

me. I struggled to get

going and lose him,

but I couldn’t move

at all. Just as I feared

I was going to be

killed, a wolf jumped

on the monster and knocked him

away. My life saved, we rode back to

a garage, and Jacob, a werewolf and

one of the protagonists in Twilight,

told us that we did a good job and

had successfully finished our task. A

sense of pride sprang from my heart.

We were the victors in the thrilling

chase!

A taste of Macao

In addition to the VR experiences,

the amusement park also provides

visitors with many interactive activi-

ties including a magic show held on a

street that looks just like the streets of

Macao as seen in the magic heist film

Now You See Me.

Walking down the street, I felt like

I was in Macao. I visited several old-

style shops like a herbal tea shop and

antique store. There was also a street

vender selling some drinks and Por-

tuguese egg tarts from a small stall.

I entered a retro souvenir shop

that oozed with a mysterious atmo-

sphere. In one corner, a magician

surround by many visitors was per-

forming magic tricks. The magician

was playing a magic number games

with some small balls and bowls and

invited guests to participate. Her

outstanding performance won the

applause of those in attendance.

Another interesting activity was

the fashionable

citizens of the

Capitol from The

Hunger Games

series.

“The clothes

are exquisitely

designed to recreate

the scenes from the

movies. Guests can

try on the glamor-

ous costumes and

immaculate makeup at the Capitol

Couture Collection, immersing

themselves into the world of The

Hunger Games,” Zhu said.

Standing out

“We are very proud about our

uniqueness because compared with

Disneyland in Shanghai and the up-

coming Universal Studios in Beijing,

Lionsgate Entertainment World is the

first indoor amusement park with ad-

vanced technology that allows visitors

fully become involved in the plot of a

movie. Visitors will not be bothered

by bad weather, and can stay as long

as they want to,” Magil said.

Magil also noted that the location

of the park is also very special. Since

Zhuhai is located next to the Macao

and Hong Kong special administra-

tion regions, she is confident the park

will become a tourist attraction.

“We are very satisfied with the vir-

tual experiences. My son has watched

all the movies, and my daughter

likes all the projects,” a man who

had brought his entire family to the

amusement park from Macao for a

day of fun told me.

 Lionsgate Entertainment brings

Asia’s first high-tech indoor

amusement park to Guangdong

Page Editor:

[email protected]

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The Hunger Games zone at Lionsgate

Entertainment World in Zhuhai,

Guangdong Province

Inset: Selena Magil

Photos: Chen Xi/GT