The past returns for a nostalgic summer holiday
Updated: 2015-06-29 06:30
By Wang Yuke(HK Edition)
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You can get stuck trying to win a packet of gums at the ever-popular Gum Tiles game booth. |
Photographer Edmond Tang re-visits the reopened Lai Yuen Amusement Park to find the attractions in it have retained the original flavor since he clicked them in 1997. Wang Yuke reports.
Lai Yuen Amusement Park, which had its glory days since the late 1940s and shut down in 1997, opened again last Friday on the Central Harbourfront.
The park has been recreated according to the original design, as is evident from these images by photographer Edmond Tang who had snapped these just before the park closed its doors in 1997.
The park features 6 rides, 22 game booths and 15 attractions. Parents of small kids snapped photos. For older visitors, many who are now grandparents, there were nostalgic moments. Children dashed from one booth to the next wanting to test their skills at every game, including Summer Ice Rink, Jumpy Frog and Little Carousel.
Animated favorites from Japanese cartoons popular in the 1950s and 1960s - Captain Tsubasa, Creamy Mami and Robocon - were back in action. As was the game of "Gum Tiles" - tossing coins, trying to land them squarely on white tiles, for the delight of winning a pack of chewing gum. Greater rewards beckoned for those who could land their coins on the few yellow or red tiles.
"The biggest change we made was in the Big DINO Slide," said Duncan Chui, chairman of Lai Yuen Amusement Park. The dinosaur used to have a rather menacing look. Now it looks like it might make a good pet.
The "Spooky School", redesigned for a new generation raised on cinematic special effects, has returned with high-tech enhancements. Projectors, sensors and sound effects are carefully designed to prompt more shrieks and shivers. And then there are the actors impersonating the ghosts.
But like the ghosts of the past returning for a final farewell, the park's return is going to be short-lived. In September the gates will close again, as the park prepares to slide back into the pages of history, leaving an imprint in the memories of a younger generation.
Contact the writer at jenny@chinadailyhk.com
Janice Kee contributed to this story.
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A map of the reopened Lai Yuen Amusement Park reveals how closely it is designed after the original. |
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If wishes were horses, life's Little Carousel keeps on turning. |
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Dino the Dinosaur has mellowed a lot over the years, but those teeth are still sharp. |
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"I ain't afraid o' no ghosts." The Spooky School has its own ghost detectors! |
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Yo-ho-ho is the way to go for the lads and lasses aboard the Happy Ding Ding Boats. |
(HK Edition 06/29/2015 page6)