Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park
| Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park | |||||||||||||
Dinosaur house entrance
|
|||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 荔園遊樂場 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||
| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 荔園 | ||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Lìyuán yóulècháng |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | lai6 yun2 yau4 lok6 cheung4 |
| Jyutping | lai6 jyun4 jau4 lok6 coeng4 |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Lìyuán |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | lai6 yun2 |
| Jyutping | lai6 jyun4 |
Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park was an amusement park on the west shore of Lai Chi Kok Bay in Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong. It was once the largest amusement park in Hong Kong, and attracted people from all walks of life in the territory.
The park was originally opened by businessman Cheung Kwan On in 1949. In 1961, Deacon Chiu purchased the park and started improving it. In 1976, the park started losing business to Ocean Park.
In 1995 the Ferris wheel was temporarily closed because engineers were dissatisfied with its condition.
The admission fee started at 60 HK cents for both adult and child admission, but by 1997 it had risen to HK$12–$25. A monorail, which cost $13, let visitors get a view of the whole park.
On 31 March 1997, the park was closed after the Hong Kong Government decided to use the land for residential public housing. Many additional visitors came to the park as it was about to close, and there were 80,000 visitors on the last two days alone. The animals from the zoo were sent to Shek Kwu Chau.
In 1997, Regional Services Department curators spent months negotiating with Far East Hotels and Entertainment to buy the amusements from the closed park, with their historical value. Popular rides such as the Ferris wheel and the ding-dong boats were moved to Hai Mun county, Shanghai where the owner Deacon Chiu Te-kan has family ties. The oldest rides such as the dodgem cars, were sold to Burma or demolished.
In 2005 the owner Yau negotiated with the government to build a new amusement park on Lantau Island. However no results have yet been achieved on this matter.
A new version of Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park will be opened in Central, Hong Kong Island on 26 June 2015. Being free of admission fee, some games are charged with game coins.
...
Wikipedia