Glorious Orient

Jining, Shandong, China – Saturday, April 26th, 2025

“Propaganda” is usually a dirty word. It connotes bias, manipulation, deception, if not outright brainwashing. It’s nakedly political, pushing to change public opinion through one-sided persuasion.

Propaganda can also be a form of art. Often low art, but sometimes even great art. The role of propaganda can help pave the way past economic or political barriers in the creation of art that, especially in less affluent or politically sensitive regions, a pure “art for art’s sake” approach might be unable to get past. Any study of film history is invariably going to include Battleship Potemkin or The Birth of a Nation. This requires some degree of separating form from content, but the two can never be completely independent. All art is political to some degree, and great art is rarely completely rational and objective, but more often requires an extreme, forceful perspective to create. And lest we forget, while we might think we’re good at sniffing out and rejecting propagandistic art whose politics we don’t like, we’re often less immune than we may think when it comes to those with politics we do support.

Glorious Orient in Jining is Fantawild’s newest theme park. Unlike the Oriental Heritage parks focused on ancient Chinese culture, myths, and legends, the Glorious Orient theme parks (there are currently four near-identical parks) are focused on modern Chinese history from the past 100+ years. And if you know anything about Chinese history from the past century, or their current approach to framing that history, you know you’re going to be getting a good dose of propaganda with your admission ticket.

But, having seen the first half of Fantawild’s creative evolution from the rather dismal Dreamland to the surprisingly competent Oriental Heritage, I was impressed at how legitimately good Fantawild had gotten in this their latest endeavor, not just technically, but even at creative practice. It was propaganda, but it was good art, at least by theme park standards.

And at first I didn’t want to admit that, but it served as a reminder to check my own biases. As a foreign visitor, of course I’ll find Chinese political messages in a theme park something of a curiosity. Much of Glorious Orient is overtly jingoistic and/or evinces a strong hatred of the Japanese. It wouldn’t surprise me if the park was partially funded to encourage military enrollment.

Yet when you compare and analyze it (which I’m going to do with the rest of this review), a lot of western art including theme parks that I might greatly respect is not so different when it comes to incorporating similar political overtones. Americans also love their military in pop culture, and regularly indulge revenge fantasies on Nazis. I’m not saying propaganda is good for art, and certainly not that we should take a relativistic moral view on the politics behind it, but that it is good critical practice to be able to recognize it, treat it neutrally, and assess the art on its own merits, however intertwined it is with the message.

On the production side, Fantawild’s robust animation studio makes it the one Chinese park chain that’s figured out how to do media-based attractions reasonably well. At most other Chinese parks, these are either skippable “8D simulators” or at best an amusing distraction. At Fantawild, they’re the star of the show, although their penchant for occasionally buying new Vekoma and/or Gravity Group coasters tends to be the more salient point with overseas coaster enthusiasts.¹ With 40+ parks as well as several media properties (their Boonie Bears franchise is apparently the most popular children’s animated program in China), they also seem to have built up the creative talent necessary to create quality, Chinese-specific immersive attractions.

When it comes to the physical build, even this newest park still shows Fantawild has considerable room for improvement. The park is way oversized for what it contains. Tightening the footprint by 25% would have done wonders for my own feet. While the early Fantawild parks struggled with the basics of theme park master planning, now the lessons of hiding show buildings around the outside of the berm seem to be overlearned, with all of the big indoor attractions essentially isolated in their own corners. There was a greatly detailed historical themed street² that was almost completely deserted (except for a few lunchgoers), because it wasn’t along a necessary guest flow corridor and the only activation besides restaurants was a completely mismatched spinning surf attraction. There are also several major rides based on the First and Second Sino-Japanese Wars, yet they’re spread out around the park rather than grouped for thematic cohesion. While normally a historically-based theme park might divide its zones to each focus on a different era, the actual selection of time periods represented in Glorious Orient is a little more limited for obvious political reasons. A lot of the park is dedicated to the 1890s to 1940s, and then things get very quiet until reaching the present day and future era. The entrance has a grandiose yet generic futurist theme park aesthetic that doesn’t adequately communicate the thesis of the overall park, which becomes more apparent once you reach the center lagoon and peer across at its flagship roller coaster.

Fighter Jet

A modern aircraft carrier serves as a centerpiece of Glorious Orient, with a sleek red Vekoma launch coaster that is undoubtedly the top priority of many visitors to the park. Again, my first reaction was the discomfort of such a realistic presentation of the modern Chinese Navy inside a theme park, especially given the context in which I typically read about their activities.

But it’s really nothing different from any of the Top Gun coasters at the former Paramount parks, most of which still carry a military theme. Top Gun: Maverick recently collaborated with the U.S. Navy on its way to grossing $1.5 billion, and that’s still a great film along with being transparent military propaganda designed to boost naval enrollment. The films’ cultural footprint is such that even Vekoma calls this their “Top Gun” ride model, now thrilling riders in China. The only real difference from the American coasters is that Fighter Jet is simply done at a much higher thematic standard, such as with the launch track embedded as the aircraft carrier’s runway… which honestly is a pretty awesome way to design a launch coaster.

Even more awesome is the signature rollover camelback at the end of the launch track, which twists into an inversion on the near-vertical ascent, and then continues to twist and curve down the descent. The combination of strong rotation and sustained airtime over the arc, as well as the upside-down visuals while angling skyward, makes this one of my favorite single inversion elements in the world. Can’t wait to see more of these.

It’s hard to top that opener, but the next few elements try their best, with a powerful ejector speed hill, a speedy, overbanked not-quite-Immelmann curve, and a sudden twist and counter-twist into a high-speed corkscrew over the launch. Unfortunately if you’re keeping track of individual ride elements, Fighter Jet does that Vekoma thing where it progressively gets less and less thrilling as it loses speed. Arguably this is in service of a very fluid layout that prioritizes the flow across all elements over individual standout moments, but a needlessly long midcourse brake section with somewhat awkward transitions also severely undermines that quality. This was my first of the next-generation Vekoma sitdown thrill coasters, and I’d wager a pretty good representation of the highs and lows of what the genre has to offer.

Especially low is Fighter Jet’s capacity. There are two eight passenger trains that look ridiculously puny for a coaster this size. I can’t imagine any non-subsidized theme park operator would look at the THRC and estimated budget and decide “buy”.³ Of course Fantawild’s operations, where every ride is treated as a performance that must be individually initiated, tank that already low number into the gutter. Despite having two trains on the track with separate load and unload platforms, it’s as if there’s only one. They hold everyone in the main lower queue area until the unload platform is completely clear. Then they radio down to send the next group of eight up. It’s a LONG walk up through the inside of the aircraft carrier⁴ and up to the load platform. Then there’s a lot of fussing over loose items and everyone choosing their seats; single riders are pretty much luck of the draw. At least the restraint check process was quick, crowds weren’t too bad, and they would call for single riders, which allowed me three rides on Fighter Jet in rows 2, 1, and 4. The front row was by far the best.

Frontline Charge

This was my second Vekoma junior boomerang after Raik at Phantasialand, and I have to conclude that the setting is what made that ride moderately enjoyable. Frontline Charge has a far simpler presentation, with some crates and supplies to look like a turn of the century military camp. I guess the idea is we’re riding in an armoured vehicle that charges into the frontline… and then retreats backward? Don’t read too much into this one.

Theoretically the appeal of these family shuttle coasters is that you can get twice the ride on half the track length compared to a normal junior coaster, plus the forward-backward motion is more exciting. I don’t think it actually plays out that way in practice, and is more appealing to park designers than their guests. It’s plainly half of a full ride, with the backwards portion awkwardly low-speed due to the absence of any booster. The focus on undulating curves forward and backward just leaves me a little queasy. With no wait I tried it twice, front and back, and that was more than enough.

Puppy Coaster

This park was so new and underreported that this kid’s coaster was not yet known to the RCDB at the time of my visit. I suspected I might find something though, especially given that the other Glorious Orient parks contain the same kid’s coaster model by Beijing Shibaolai Amusement Equipment. The others are more sci-fi themed, while for whatever reason the Jining iteration includes more of Fantawild Animation’s Boonie Bears kids IP, and thus we got the adorable corgi-themed Puppy Coaster.

It’s essentially an updated Wacky Worm layout, although whether it’s an improvement is questionable. The point of a Wacky Worm is that it can be manufactured cheaply. Upping the build quality but keeping the same concept is pointless. It loses the trademark wacky track on the upper level for an unremarkable single half-dip, and the ride is nearly over when it finally gets to the more exciting full drop and curve that leads back to the station. They only give a single lap, which was all I needed for my +1.

Sharpshooter

Across from the Puppy Coaster in a toy block building was the first dark ride I would try at Glorious Orient, and immediately I knew I was in for a unique experience. Imagine the style of “Small World”-esque children characters, but instead of wearing traditional dress and singing a song of global harmony, they’re in fatigues joining a WWII-era resistance force to infiltrate an enemy base and blow up their munitions. Peace through superior firepower!

Sharpshooter is an interactive shooting dark ride with vehicles that resemble the Buzz Lightyear rides, but instead of a continuous chain they’re linked together into separate trains of six cars each. The military theme is laid on very thick, albeit in a cartoony style that makes for fun role-playing for kids. Sure, “kids at war” seems like an odd juxtaposition, but I suppose the comparison isn’t too far off from American childhood fascinations with gunfighters in the Wild West. You don’t shoot at people (although there are many non-target humans in the scenes), just at bombs, missiles, and other supplies. The queue and station has a bold lithographic art style that harkens back to Revolutionary Communist propaganda posters. Hey, it’s never too early to instill revolutionary fervor.

And for the attraction it’s trying to be, it’s quite good! Well-designed gameplay, bright, responsive targets, high-quality media elements, and detailed set design with a consistent art direction that offers variation but not randomness between rooms. There are a lot of bad, poorly maintained interactive dark rides out there, and this isn’t one of them. Yet. (Fantawild is better at building new parks than maintaining their old ones.)

Zhiyuan Zhiyuan

A large warship docked at a shipyard (with an attempted trompe-l’œil backdrop that fails due to the changing perspective against the dimensional ship) serves as the entrance for possibly Glorious Orient’s most ambitious attraction, Zhiyuan Zhiyuan. It’s based on the story of the Chinese cruiser Zhiyuan sunk during the First Sino-Japanese War, and which has since attained some pop-cultural status in China. The queue serves as a mini museum, with a historical preshow documentary film while we wait.

The ride system is based on Shanghai Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean, with rafts that can stop, change speed, and pivot directions. It’s an obvious point of inspiration for the large ship battle scenes that take place, yet there are many scenes where the technology is used more to direct attention on a conversation between animatronics or some other detail. Zhiyuan Zhiyuan takes just over ten minutes, yet the storyline evidently takes place over years. This is the ride in which my limited proficiency of Chinese undoubtedly hurt the experience the most. The use of voiceover narration and scene transitions that jump between space and time sort of gives it a presentational Epcot attraction feel, although the immersive sets and dramatic storyline renders it closer to the feel of a historical drama show. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it in a theme park attraction before.

Perhaps the most novel formal technique employed was how the large-format media sequences would begin with a standard “immersive” approach (blend the edge with the scenic transition, maintain a continuous perspective with realistic movement) but then would introduce a filmic cut to leap the story across the ocean or from day to night. It works on the Soarin’ attractions, and I was surprised that it seemed to work reasonably well in this context too. It could open up entire genres of storytelling opportunities that aren’t currently represented in major theme park attractions that insist “immersive” requires real-time.

But then Zhiyuan Zhiyuan quickly turned into a test case of what not to do with immersive media. During the battle sequences it seems the directors got a little overexcited with showing the action up close and from all angles, and reverted to a rhythm and style of editing more befitting movies or video game cutscenes than an immersive attraction, where the constant editing just takes you out of the scene entirely. Scene changes, sure, but montage, no.

Not familiar with the story, I was somewhat surprised that it ended with the ship’s defeat at the hands of the Japanese. Understanding the narration would have unlocked more of the tragic dimension to the story; descending with the ship into the murky depths was certainly an arresting visual. Yet a heroic finale still arrives in the form of a hundred year leap into the future to showcase the modern Chinese Navy that the Zhiyuan paved the way for. The glistening sunset shots of battleships charging confidently toward the horizon as the soundtrack booms heroically is when the attraction jumps from being merely politically-infused to capital-P Propaganda. I had to scoff, and frankly I expect quite a few Chinese visitors have as well. Hopefully someday when Fantawild Animation needs some more billable hours they’ll take another crack at redoing some of the media to help the attraction live up to its full potential.

Let’s Fly

Somehow flying theaters have emerged as the one form of immersive media attraction where regular scene cuts are standard practice. Soarin’ Over California invented the genre, and then Soarin’ Around the World realized the hard cut practice went against Disney’s standard theory of immersion and tried to get too fancy with its staged scene wipes. Let’s Fly, which is essentially Fantawild’s off-the-shelf “Soarin’ Over China” flying theater (and the only non-militaristic major ride at Glorious Orient), keeps the formula simple with tasteful quick crossfades between its scenes, as well as Chinese captions labeling each location. As far as I could tell the ride film is 100% CG, but it’s all very well done, and I mind this less than the mixing of live action and CG elements that other similar rides resort to (although of course well-filmed live action is always most preferred).

These aerial travelogue-style flying theaters are all inherently political by virtue of what they choose to show, or not show, to represent their region of focus (and not just because Mao Zedong makes a prominent cameo above the entrance to the Forbidden Palace). On Let’s Fly, the sequence begins with the Great Wall of China, a safe, standard introduction to represent the entire nation. It next pivots to Tibet’s Potala Palace, a somewhat surprising choice given the political sensitivities to the autonomous region, although by the time the third scene involved mountaineers planting the Chinese flag atop Mount Everest’s shared border,⁵ I was reminded that it’s in the political interest to show this frontier region as a core part of the overall Chinese identity.

The remaining scenes showcase a mix of cultural landmarks and natural landscapes (all places I might be interested in visiting) as well as several less compelling scenes of modern infrastructure. Sure, Duge Bridge as the world’s tallest may offer comparable symbolism to Golden Gate, but an elaborate scene involving the Three Gorges Dam is more puzzling. Visually the concrete industrial structure and network of transmission towers is far from the aspirational settings expected on these rides. The massive environmental impact and human displacement caused by the dam has long been controversial, yet as the world’s highest capacity power station it’s no doubt also a source of pride for the Chinese government, who no doubt would be pleased to see it glorified in the pantheon of Let’s Fly destinations. The final shot takes place over Beijing Daxing International Airport, an anticlimatic utilitarian setting made even stranger for the copious fireworks going off over what one presumes is restricted airspace. I believe it’s supposed to fit into an overall “air travel” theme to conclude the attraction, but using it to replicate Soarin’s final celebratory scene just marks Let’s Fly as one of the more derivative attractions in need of an update. Yet as far as flying theaters go, this is still one of the better ones in China… Shanghai Disneyland’s included.

Railroad Warriors

If you want more movie-based dark rides, this attraction is based on the 1956 film Railway Guerilla, which follows a small group of Communist Chinese resistance fighters disrupting the occupying Japanese army’s use of rail lines during World War II, based on a true story that took place right here in Shandong Province. The ride adaptation apparently moves the setting farther to the northeast mountain frontier, as informed by a well-produced preshow video mixing live reenactments, animated motion graphics, and documentary images. I got to watch it loop several times while waiting for what is evidently the most popular ride in the park… and for good reason.

Railroad Warriors is a 4D motion base dark ride (think Spider-Man or Transformers), which serves as a tactical assault vehicle with the goal to blow up a supply train as it crosses a mountain bridge. A set of machine guns are mounted to the front, and each rider gets a button to press to fire their own gun. I don’t believe the ride is technically “interactive” in the sense that pressing the button affects anything besides some localized audio and buttkickers, but it was hard for me to tell exactly if the practice firing range scene was fixed or not. Regardless of technological application, the effect gives us more emotional investment early on when we’re accidentally discovered by a group of Japanese officers, and whom we promptly vaporize in a hail of machine gun fire. No, this dark ride does not fuck around!

The first half follows the story beats of a heist-gone-wrong, sneaking in through the cold dark perimeter, before getting caught and having to fight our way out, backs against the wall and guns ablaze. The execution is actually really well done, with full-scale immersive practical sets with carefully placed media elements in windows or other locations. In a couple scenes, artificial snow falls overhead, a wondrous moment of “why hasn’t anyone done that on a dark ride before?”⁶ Later, real fire and spark plumes ignite as we’re pursued by a tank. The escalating tension is handled with aplomb, and quite honestly shows a better understanding of action direction than many major American-designed dark rides.

Eventually, we catch up to our target train as it’s leaving the station, and the chase begins as the ride shifts to rely on immersive dome screen media. This isn’t an issue because, again, media happens to be one of Fantawild’s core strengths, and the forward-moving “chase” sequence is actually an ideal use case for this type of media application. A detour through a wheat field provides an effective break between screens, but the dramatic action continues to escalate as we race to beat the train to the bridge. It’s simple but very effective dramaturgy, harkening directly back to The Great Train Robbery, albeit by stylistic means of Inglourious Basterds. Count me all the way in!

The climax is absolutely as thrilling as the build-up promised, even if it does defy some sense. A grenade explodes right as the train reaches the bridge, triggering a chain reaction. We’re thrown over the edge, giving a perfect viewpoint of the iron carnage wrought overhead as we weightlessly fall backward. Somehow we gently land in the gorge as the media shifts to a practical set with a bridge model collapsing above us. The ride even holds the time for a proper denouement, regrouping with a rebel military captain before a graphic montage showing the actual resistance heroes. Sometimes after a great ride I’ll hear people applaud, but this was the first time I witnessed everyone in my car singing as we reached unload, in this case along to the song “Playing My Beloved Pipa” from the original film.

Stepping outside trying to process it all, I witnessed an excited group of kids help two resistance soldiers arrest two comic Japanese officer characters as they tried to run away. It’s the same dynamics you might see play out at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and indeed the ride itself may compare favorably to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Both share similar politics rooted in resistance narratives, and it’s fair to say that given the history involved, the emotions are much more strongly and deservedly felt in China. The fact this ride serves a political purpose may in fact make it a stronger statement and greater achievement than so many where the goal is more about elevating some brand recognition. While of course there are always some things that could stand room for improvement, I have no hesitations ranking Railroad Warriors among the very best modern dark rides in the world.

Hangar Breakout

It seems like Fantawild have realized they had a winner on their hands with Railroad Warriors, because for better or worse, Hangar Breakout is almost the exact same formula, only with planes instead of trains. But mostly, it’s worse.

Both are 4D motion base dark rides set during the Second Sino-Japanese War, in which our role is to break into an occupying Japanese military base and deal as much damage as possible. I guess it’s a mark of pride in Fantawild’s creative capabilities that now they’re trying to copy themselves rather than just Disney or Universal? Hangar Breakout, however, is lacking in a few key details. There’s no interactive feature, not that it was make-or-break for Railroad Warriors. Sets are considerably more limited, with most of the ride reliant on 3D screens. And frankly, the action is just a lot less logical and poorly staged, with a more muddled storyline that lacks a clear goal. Once the battle breaks out, it’s a repetitive collection of scenes of blowing up airplanes and other enemy combatants until eventually you blow up a really big one (and almost get minced by its propeller), at which point… mission accomplished, I guess?

I clearly wasn’t the only one less impressed by Hangar Breakout, as despite the typically poor capacity it never seemed to have a wait except for the usual lengthy dispatch cycle. I’ll give them Zhiyuan Zhiyuan and Railroad Warriors to cover the First and Second Sino-Japanese Wars, but along with stuff like Sharpshooter, Hangar Breakout tips Glorious Orient’s hand of desperately yearning to relive the good old days of war against the Japanese, the first of which China resolutely did not win, and the second of which counts as one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the history of mankind.

Jean-Paul Sartre claimed that many people have never been more free than when under forced occupation—that’s when every decision we make on how to resist truly matters. I can’t begrudge China from wanting to celebrate its relatively recent revolution when I’m from a country that still makes its own 250 year old revolution the centerpiece of its national identity (and seemingly every misguided political movement, including the current moment). But mostly, the heavy-handed use of the “resistance genre” serves a righteous victimhood narrative that gives cover to overlook the half-century that’s missing from this park, as well as the deterministic future it tries to impose.

It might be art, and maybe even great art, but it’s also still political propaganda.

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