In Chenzhuang Village, China, about 20 miles northwest of central Beijing, the ruins of a partially built amusement park called Wonderland sit near a highway, surrounded by houses and fields of corn. Construction work at the park, which developers had promised would be "the largest amusement park in Asia," stopped around 1998 after disagreements with the local government and farmers over property prices. Developers briefly tried to restart construction in 2008, but without success. The abandoned structures are now a draw for local children and a few photographers, who encounter signs telling them to proceed at their own risk. Reuters photographer David Gray visited the site on a chilly morning earlier this month and returned with these haunting images of a would-be Wonderland.
The entrance to an abandoned building leads into a derelict amusement park called 'Wonderland', on the outskirts of Beijing December 5, 2011. With local governments often dependent on land sales to fund payments on a staggering 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion) of debt, Beijing worries that a collapsing property market will trigger a wave of defaults that in turn will hit the banks.
Footsteps in fresh snow are seen across a walkway leading to the entrance of a derelict amusement park called 'Wonderland', on the outskirts of Beijing December 5, 2011.
A sign warning people about potential poisons in the soil is pasted on a pillar of an abandoned building that was to be part of an amusement park called 'Wonderland', on the outskirts of Beijing December 5, 2011.
nice post.
ReplyDelete