VISITORS to crowded and polluted Guangzhou soon feel the need for peace and fresh air. Wonderfully, they can be found quickly, along with many sightseeing attractions, in Yuexiu Park, the city's largest parkland.
A 100-hectare green lung, Yuexiu spreads over low hills near Guangzhou Railway Station. The main entrance is on Jiefang Road North, from where pathways meander past a large artificial lake and through woodland, flowering trees and groves of evergreens.
Diversions, inevitably busiest on Sundays, include a large boating lake, Olympic-sized swimming pool and sports grounds, sculpture park, flower exhibition hall, monuments, and the main city museum. Entry fees for all are small.
The park's biggest sightseeing novelty, near the main entrance and swimming pool, costs more. For 12 FEC, you gain access to a world of make-believe, passing behind a waterfall curtain and descending into the imaginary bowels of the earth. There, strobesflash, the Sea Dragon roars, fires rage, devilish torturers growl, and giant spiders leap at visitors experiencing the ordeals of characters in Journey to the West, a Chinese classic.
After many terrifying subterranean twists and turns, parkgoers emerge to discover a heavenly palace, temple terraces and a host of Buddhist statues representing the ''Western Paradise''. That was the goal of the monk, the Monkey King, and other characters whose mythological adventures were recounted in the book.
An animated sound-and-light show, the theme park is a brilliantly bizarre blend of fairground horror shows and inspirational Buddhist tableaux. Designed by China TV's production centre, the multi-million-yuan fantasyland is fun, but cannot recommended for very young children or highly-strung claustrophobes.