Around the World (Showcase): CHINA

Hello! And welcome to our weekly feature where we take you around the WORLD (Showcase)!!
This week we'll go to....

CHINA!
中國

As all the pavilions, the theming is great, and you really feel like you're part of the people that live there.
There are many things to see and do here, so let's begin!:

Coming from Norway:

The first thing you notice is the "Nine Dragons" restaurant:

The new shop that was built and finished just some months ago:

There you can find some Chinese umbrellas, games and puppets!:

"Joy of Tea" serves... well, tea!:

The entrance to the pavilion:

Very nice overview:

In this space there are multiple shows throughout the day, with acrobats (even children!) that are really good:

The film "Reflections of China" is about 18 minutes long, and it's in circle-vision (screens all around you).
It's very interesting, and shows you all the most important places that make China a great place to visit:

This reproduction of a Chinese temple houses part of the waiting area for the movie:

Half of the theater is visible in this picture:

Next to the temple there's a very interesting small museum where you'll see many interesting replicas of Chinese statues and artifacts:

A smaller-scale reproduction of the terracotta warriors:

Usually you can see the waiting area for the "Reflection of China" movie, but there was a special dinner-event that day:

Again, the theming is great everywhere:

The entrance to a HUGE Chinese market:

You can find a lot of Chinese stuff here:

The "Nine Dragons" sit-down restaurant is goo, especially the rice and the cucumber.
It's not as expansive and crowded as the other restaurants in Epcot, with most of the guest just walking in:

The menu:

On a side note, just next to the "Nine Dragons" restaurants there's a small quick service location called Lotus Blossom Cafe that's even cheaper, but offers a very limited menu.

The gardens:

And to conclude, here you are some
Fun Facts of the Chinese pavilion

- The public marketplace, designed to encourage socializing, includes facades borrowed from an elegant home, a school house, a city gate, and shop fronts reflecting European overtones.

- A Disney crew carried a 300-pound camera up 4,500 steps of the Huangshan Mountain in the Annui Province to film the Circle-Vision 360 film seen in the China pavilion.

- The images from "Reflections of China" have been gathered over the last 25 years.

- If you stand in the very middle of the round room in the temple in China and begin to speak, you will hear the echo of your voice.

- The Reflections of China is shown on the half hour. While you wait, go and check out either the Warriors museum (next to the waiting area) or view the Land of Many Faces gallery (in the waiting room).

- If the 360 degree movie screen makes you a little dizzy, stand near the back of the room, you'll be able to see most of the film. Remember, this is a standing attraction, so be prepared to stand for the duration of the movie (18 minutes).

- To reflect the gardening style of China, the pavilion features a very loosely structured landscape.  There is no strong feeling of being either inside or outside of the garden. Chinese gardens are designed to be quiet, still and passive, as in the meditation pool.  The zoysia grass is left alone to grow as it would look in China.  Plants are used sparingly with the accent on those with unusual color. Several fruit trees, orange, plum and pomegranate are also part of the landscape.

- The weeping mulberry, while resembling a tree you might find in China, is actually over 100 years old and was found in New Jersey.

- In order to depict the intricate tile work patterns of the original Temple, the Imagineers artisans screen printed hundreds of exact replications of its detailed patterns onto each and every tile at Epcot.

- March 25, 2002 the original Wonders of China 360 movie closed until May 23, 2003. The new movie is now called Reflections of China. Nine cameras were used to photograph the cultural and scenic images in the new movie. During a 2 month period in 2002, 7 Chinese cities were filmed. New shots of many of the landmarks in the current movie such as the Great Wall, Tian'anmen Square will be in the new version. Other images that have been updated include Beijing, Harbin, and Urumqi. Every bit of footage of Shanghai has been replaced.

Some of these facts are courtesy of Allears.net