Down and out in the tragic kingdom

Reuters' David Gray explored Wonderland, an unfinished Disneyland clone outside of Beijing. Here, a farmer tends crops in a field now encompassing the abandoned Cinderella Castle-style building that was to be a centerpiece. Construction work at the park, promoted by developers as "the largest amusement park in Asia", stopped around 1998; disagreements over property prices with the local government and farmers are cited as factors.

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This slideshow is of a load of pictures of a derelict amusement park called ‘Wonderland’, on the outskirts of Beijing December 5, 2011.

It was a fantastic insight though, even if the captions were annoying.
- fett101
  
  I’m going to be reading that line tonight in my dreams, which was to be part of an amusement park called ‘Wonderland’, on the outskirts of Beijing December 5, 2011.
  
  The last caption is definitely the best/worst.
  - rarrr
    
    yeah apparently this includes abandoned buildings that were to be part of an amusement park called ‘Wonderland’, on the outskirts of Beijing December 5, 2011.
irksome

Crypto-Capitalism Rule #5: Don’t f**k with the Mouse.
- fett101
  
  The blurb itself is says disagreements over property prices with the local government and farmers is what did it in. Nothing to do with Disney.
  - Guest
    
    Suuuuuuure.
scifijazznik

That lead pic is a contender for photo of the year. That is excellent.
dragonfrog

I was struck by the warning signs saying “be responsible for your actions” – can you imagine a derelict complex like that in North America, with just some signs warning explorers to act responsibly? No three-metre fences topped with barbed wire, no alarms, no CCTV?

Apparently we Westerners are like toddlers, not to be trusted to make decisions about our own physical safety…
- Guest
  
  That’s true of all humans, the difference is that westerners feel entitled to be compensated by the people they inconvenience through their own asshattery.
Brainspore

I can’t believe no supervillains have snatched this place up yet.
- Culturedropout
  
  Dude. It’s a fairy-tale princess castle. No super-villain would be caught dead there. They might as well add a tutu to their bad-ass uniform. All the other villains would laugh them out of the club. Besides, I hear the princess is in another castle…
  - Brainspore
    
    But it’s a decrepit fairy tale castle, and that’s the kind of thing that makes “Evil Lair” gold. Just think about how many eccentric supervillains have operated out of creepy old amusement parks at some point: you’ve got the Joker, the Riddler, the Mad Hatter and Mysterio for starters, and that’s just a few of the better-known comic book villains. B-movie horror flick nutjobs could have a field day there, not to mention every single ghoul from Scooby Doo.
    
    Granted, it will take a little work to convert all the old rides into unnecessarily complicated killing machines but it’s still a lot more economical than going the “subterranean nuclear launch facility” route.
    - cservant
      
      Look at the slideshow. It’s mostly left over buildings that can barely protect you from the elements. I doubt any super villain would want to spend resources there just because it’s a decrepit fairy tale castle. I don’t see any equipment or left over rides that can be converted into a death machine.
      - Brainspore
        
        It’s mostly left over buildings that can barely protect you from the elements.
        
        All the better for when the heroes show up and you can rain death from above with the weather machine atop the castle tower.
  - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
    
    Looks more like something out of Skyrim to me.
    - Culturedropout
      
      Is it wrong that I always picture someone performing anilingus on an airplane when I see that name?
- Felton / Moderator
  
  It’s high in the running for Boing Boing’s next secret lair.
  - robotnik
    
    Ah-ha! You DO have a secret lair! So, where is it?
    - Felton / Moderator
      
      If I post it here in the comment thread, how do I know you won’t tell anyone?
    - Brainspore
      
      You didn’t get the invite? (AWK-ward…)
Terry Fairbrother

Have a wander over to http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/ He’s been exploring ruins for some time, taking pictures and video. All very interesting!!
Culturedropout

“This is a tiny screw which was to be part of an amusement park called ‘Wonderland’, which was found in a crack which was to be part of an amusement park called ‘Wonderland’ in a parking lot which was to be part of an amusement park called ‘Wonderland’ in front of a derelict building which was to be part of an amusement park called ‘Wonderland’…” Is the nursery-rhyme “This is the house that Jack built” running through anyone else’s head right now…? AAAAAHHHH MAKE IT STTTTTOOOOOOOPPPP!
ZikZak

In the 80′s, our fictional post-apocalypse scenario centered around nuclear devastation. Today, it looks a lot like this.
Like Gibson said, the future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed.
http://twitter.com/miaouxmiaoux Miaoux Miaoux

reminds me of ico a little bit
http://twitter.com/dbrunker Dave Brunker

I thought I’d find this picture here.
Antinous / Moderator

It’s like stumbling on Tinkerbell while she’s changing her tampon.
Bucket

Whatever you do, don’t eat any of the food that magically appears in the vendor stalls.
Andrew Raisbeck

Any one for a ‘Taking the Mickey’ joke?
cservant

“All the better for when the heroes show up and you can rain death from above with the weather machine atop the castle tower.”
I bow then to your obvious eccentric supervillain madness superiority.
Blue Funnies

I keep thinking that, after dark, this abandoned theme park turns into some kind of magical bathhouse for spirits where an unassuming family can wander in and be turned into farm animals.
Hey, what’s that delicious smell?
Godfree

All I see is smog. China’s air pollution is horrific.
- irksome
  
  That’s not smog, it’s “atmosphere”.
zaenal musthofa

beatifuly..
ocker3

That row of what looks like shopfronts looks like it could be an Excellent paintball venue
penguinchris

I wonder what the enormous building was going to be for. Nothing like that at the real Disneyland, but of course the weather is different. Or maybe it was going to be a hotel?
noah django

related:
http://www.vice.com/read/counterfeit-fun-v15n1