is a monster. It’s a knock-off World of Warcraft- and Starcraft-themed amusement park covering 60,000 square meters and crowded with buxom plastic fairies, fiberglass landscaping and lax attendants. There are eight sections. Fantasy Square (a big theatre, showing nothing the day we went), Taobao Street (lots of kids’ shops, like Hello Kitty, Snoopy, Transformers), Mole City (slow moving toddlers’ rides and activities), World Legend (WoW-themed rides and shows), Holy Mountain (Gaudi type building on top of minor hill), Universe of Starship (Starcraft-themed rides and shows), Fairy Lake (lake with pastel colored buildings and activities) and Terrain of Magic (water park and water rides). On the day we went, there were lots of kids, groups of youths wearing fake glasses and shy teen couples on dates. Pretty much everything is in Chinese and everyone is local. If you’re an obvious laowai, expect to be part of the show. We tried out the following rides:

Heaven Trip of Deomogorgon

Confused medley of haunted house action and 3D IMAX images. You walk through a number of halls and are then strapped into what looks like a mining cart. You put on 3D glasses and move slowly through to face different screens, each telling part of a battle story. At some point, florescent skeletons unconnected to the story are dangled above your head. Loud, incoherent Chinese dialogue is played throughout the journey. The photographer and I sat at the front, with our glasses on and couldn’t make out images from our left eyes (both of us have two functioning eyes). Yeah, but no.

Ice Sword King Doom

This is a play put on in a small theatre. It roused my Vampire-playing, latent fantasy geek. You wait in a room with medieval-style trimmings before you get ushered into a dark room with a stage. Each side of the stage is decorated with life-sized ogres. The lights dim and a wizened elf tells a story about his ex-elf-girlfriend. What’s cool is that the actors interact with hologram images. So when the elves were flirting and the elf dude got eaten by a venus flytrap and changed into a cow, it looked like it was actually going down on stage. It’s only about 20 minutes, but I’m a sucker for unrequited elf love and a bit of cheeky coquetry.

Sky Scrapper

Not the biggest or best rollercoaster in the world, but still a ridiculously fun ride. The feat built up with a slow, rickety ascent is accentuated when you realize that you’re on a speedy ride in a country where people die on faulty escalators, then you rip through the twists and single loop-the-loop.

Games Fortress

A showroom with free computer games, sponsored by Nvidia, a graphics chip company. It felt pretty corporate, as the Nvidia logo was plastered everywhere. There were a couple of one-player racing games and Wii-like systems. Nothing was state-of-the-art. A bit weak.

Clouds of Fairyland

Sounds and looks innocent enough. Clouds of Fairyland is a tiny, one-loop rollercoaster. The attendant told us as we were being strapped in that it was much faster than the other coaster on site – yeah, yeah, whatever. Five minutes later, I got off with a neck tick and a tremble in my right hand. Short, not sweet and very severe and jerky. Felt like a smack in the face.

Fantasia Atlas

Similar to Flying Jurassic, but you’re in moving seats. You enter the dome and after climbing a couple of flights of stairs are herded onto rows of chairs. You’re told to take your shoes off, strap yourself in with a T-strap and then a heavy bar is placed across you. This ride had more safety features than any other we went on. You’re expecting a spiteful journey at a thundering pace. The lights dim and the wall in front of you comes down. You’re moved one meter forward and gently rocked like a granny while images are projected in front of you across another large dome. Disappointing, but I still enjoyed the light rocking and the journey across make believe mountainscapes and trippy kingdoms.

Flying Jurassic

Huge domed hall where images are projected onto the dome above you while you stand below gawping up and around. The graphics make you feel like you’re in a bubble that’s slowly moving through different kingdoms. I was totally absorbed by a dragon ruckus and giant octopus attack. Stoner joy. That’s it. There was more to do but that was our fill. We went during the week, so barely had to queue. The lines for activities seemed longer in the morning than in the afternoon, but if you go over the weekend, expect to wait. We saw signs saying “90 minutes wait from here.” Ominous. Apart from the rides, there really is lots to do and see. We saw an open-air act with characters dressed up in ancient Chinese costumes. There are slot machines where for two kuai you can remote-control a small boat on the lake. There’s face painting for a small sum, large arcades, typical funfair games where you pay for a chance to win your sweetheart a soft-toy. There’s a cosplay store, offering costumes for hire and photography, ranging from manga schoolgirl outfits to Gambit-style long high collared coats for boys. We also passed a shop that had loads of spangly masks. Food-wise, there are lots of options, from noodles to the Galaxy Theme Energy Restaurant, where we ate, which was a cheap canteen where we had between us four small dishes of Chinese fare and rice for 60rmb. This is not an amusement park for hardcore thrill seekers. Go if you’re a child, child-like or have a penchant for fantasy creatures. Don’t bother if you’re a fiberglass cynic or if copyright infringement irks you, because everything there is a rip-off of something else. Logistics World Joyland is open every day from 9am to 10pm during July and August and from 9am to 5:30pm during the rest of the year. Trains run from all Shanghai stations to Chang Zhou and take about an hour, although avoid taking one from Shanghai South as they take longer. Tickets are 80rmb one way. When you get to Chang Zhou, go to the bus station ticket office and line up at the “嬉戏谷” service window. Entry to World Joyland is 200rmb, including a return bus journey from Chang Zhou station. Without the bus return it's 180rmb and there are concession prices for the elderly and very young, see this for details. The bus timetable is quite complicated: buses to World Joyland run from 8am with one every 20 minutes until 10am, after 10am, they run at 10:30am, 11am, 11:30am, 12pm and 2pm. Buses from World Joyland to Chang Zhou Station start at 1:50pm then run every half hour till 3:50pm, after which buses will wait until they are full to leave until 6pm. After 6pm, the next bus is at 9pm and runs every half hour until 10:30pm.