The Knock-Off Disney Brand

Looking down from the top of the Ferris wheel.

The calm before the storm.

Chinese architecture made out of ice.

Based on observation, knock off versions of expensive brand name things in China is very popular. I’ve seen lots of fake Gucci shirts, phone cases, bags, and accessories. Today I went with 吴璨 and her friends to Floraland, which is an amusement park in China. The mascots for this amusement park happened to be mouse-looking characters with masks and multi-colored ears. They reminded me a bit of Mickey Mouse and Minney Mouse. In addition, Floraland had multiple countries like Epcot. Also, there were even mouse ear headbands like you can purchase in Disney.

I felt like Floraland was a bit of a lower-key imitation of Disney. We first went on a very slow Ferris wheel, then on a mild swing ride and more frightful spinning ride. We went on other twirling and spinning and sickness-inducing rides, and then we had some lunch before going on even more rides. The amusement park food was actually pretty impressive. There were noodles with cucumber, bowls of watermelon, tofu in a spicy sauce, and skewers of meat ranging from hot dogs to squid. There was a restaurant with hamburgers, waffles, fries, and other American food, but most of the food was just normal Chinese food. My absolute favorite food item sold was the corn. I ate three skewers of corn at the amusement park. It was really soft and warm and very simple and simply delicious.

Afterwards, we went on quite a few more rides, ranging from mild to wet. We even went into this freezing cold building that was filled with ice and snow. At 5:30, we finally left and headed to Chandler’s host mom’s restaurant. I had some tofu, cabbage, rice, and sour vegetables? I think I ate some bitter melon along with lotus root and potato in some weird sort of sauce, but hey, they’re vegetables. After a little while, 吴璨 and I headed home to a jumpy potato and a smiling dad.