''In the past, China's tourism valued 'waiguoren' [foreigners] more than anyone," says the manager of a Chinese travel company. ''Now that time is long gone. Ever since the conversion to the 'earn-money, spend-money' philosophy here, there are plenty of domestic money-spenders who can afford to have a grand time at a grand place."
On a recent visit to Xian (she-ahn), China's imperial capital for over 1,000 years and home of the famed terra-cotta warriors, my fellow travelers and I discovered one such ''grand place," the newly opened theme park called Tang Paradise. Near one of Xian's most famous ancient monuments, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Tang Paradise combines the historical focus of a Sturbridge Village, the fantasyland appeal of a Disneyland, and the glitzy showmanship of a Las Vegas.
Dubbed a ''Garden of History," the park celebrates China's greatest and most sophisticated age, the 300-year-long Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), when Chinese culture reached its height. The developers, who invested more than $150 million in the project, have included all aspects of the era's splendor in an attempt both to instruct and entertain.
The setting, a landscaped 165-acre site surrounding a willow-lined lake, captures something of the look and feel of classical Chinese landscape painting. While no attempt was made to fabricate an entire Tang town, the impression one gets is of wandering through a variety of environs -- marketplaces, palace grounds, pavilions -- dipping into the sights, sounds, and tastes of a time long ago.
As my companions and I strolled the grounds, costumed acrobats, musicians, drummers, and stilt walkers entertained us. Artisans and calligraphers plied their trades. In Show Square, we caught one of the daily performances of Chinese opera. Nearby, energetic lion dancers writhed and gyrated to the raucous sounds of cymbals and gongs.
