#254 Ferris Wheel

Juliana and I went on Saturday to ride the new Ferris Wheel on Jinji Lake. It is a monstrous structure that lights up at night with changing colors and a TV screen in the center. The wheel and amusement park opened up earlier this summer and seems to be drawing a good crowd.

The view from the top is great, though the sky was overcast and dreary on Saturday. It cost us 80 RMB ($12 US) each to get into the park which included a ride on the giant wheel. The line was pretty short and the ride is pretty long. The wheel moves slow enough the passengers load into the cars without stopping the motion. In fact, it is quite hard to tell from a distance whether the wheel is moving. We forgot to check our watches, but one lap around the wheel seemed to take about one half hour.

There was a whole list of posted warnings inside the passenger compartment of the wheel. One that caught my eye and made me think of my back-in-the-states friend Bill - "No Heart Problem People". Pregnant people and those under 1.5 meters are also banned from enjoying the wheel.

We quite enjoyed the ride and the view. Afterward we found an outside table at the nearby Times Square Starbucks and had a mocha and a frappacino. It was a bit of a special afternoon for Juliana and I and we had a great time.