As in many countries, in China the 1st of May is celebrated as the National Labor Day(国际劳动节Guójì Láodòng Jié). This means that people have a national holiday and also our office was closed. I and some friends of mine had decided to go to Merryland, a theme park which is located about 69km away from Guilin. In the morning we met and went there by car, which took us 1 1/2 hours. Weather was good and so all of us were looking forward to this day.

Arriving at the front gate we had to face that apparently a lot of Chinese people had had the same idea and arrived with group busses. It came out that apparently we were the only Non-Chinese people in the park, or at least we did not meet any other. As being students the entrance fee was 70RMB each. We entered the park and were not only surprised by the cleanliness but also by the fact that the attractions were as good as new. The surrounding landscape was very green and beautiful. I loved the many lakes most. The whole park is divided into five areas: Wild West, Merry Town, Dream World, Pirate Village, South Pacific Area and Forest Area. We spent time to try out some of the attractions, for example the carousel, tunnel of horror and water ride. Afterwards one of my friends was wet all over. There were attractions for children and grown-ups; nobody has to be bored in the park. As there were many people in the park, we usually had to wait up to one hour to take one ride. Unfortunately some of the roller coasters were very short and so the waiting times were not really worth it. I therefore suggest visiting the park during the week or maybe on a Saturday when you can repeat the rides you liked and take as much rides as possible. Otherwise you cannot exhaust the whole park.

When we were inside, we also passed an area with waterslides and fountains where you can swim. We regretted that we had not brought our swim suits, because it was extremely warm and would have been a lot of fun. If you are very brave, you can also do bungee jumping. Very nice are also the offers of Jet Ski, banana boat or water board driving on the biggest lake, which directly faces the entrance. Unfortunately we never arrived at the right times, but there are also some shows (like Kung Fu) in theaters, which were said to be nice.

All around the park you find small restaurants or snack bars to allay(if you allay someone's fears or doubts, you stop them feeling afraid or doubtful) someone’s hunger and thirst or to take a break. You also get some souvenirs in shops spread everywhere.