Beyond the Sky - Astronaut for a Day

Always wanted to visit a space station or try astronaut food? What about bouncing around in one-sixth gravity on the surface of the moon? First you'll have to meet the basic physical requirements and undergo some training. Fortunately, all of these experiences are available at China's first Space Travel Theme Park, which opened to the public on the 18th of April.

Sponsored by Haidian Tourism Bureau, the Beijing American-China Times Culture Development Co., Ltd and the China Space Museum, Beijing's newest theme park aims to appeal to our undying interest in the mysteries of outer space.

Rockets of all kinds, mostly one tenth life-size but still surprisingly big, are exhibited in the No.1 Exhibition Hall, including China's Long March I and II. There is even an historical exhibit tracing rocket science back to its origins in ancient China's Three Kingdoms Period, around AD300.

Elsewhere in the exhibition hall, a group of testing machines quickly and accurately let you know if you'd pass the stringent tests required to go into space. Good eyesight, hearing, basic cardiac health and reaction ability are all required if you want to join the astronaut corps! Even your basic psychological fitness for space is tested: you can spend some time in an extremely dark room to test if you can stand the lack of visual relief and loneliness of being beyond the sky.

"It is amazing that astronauts have to control such a huge number of buttons!" On a board about three metres wide and two metres high are over 100 buttons with distinctive functions, and many in the crowd are asking the same questions, "How can they remember the functions so clearly, especially when in an emergency?" The board is a same-size model of the Apollo 13 control panel, and there's plenty of room to sit down, throw some switches, and make Houston think you have a problem!

"Mum, come and have a look! What's this?" 6-year-old is pointing at a big, round, yellow vegetable. It's a potato from space! Grown in an environment that simulates the micro-gravity of orbit, all the vegetables and fruits on show (cucumbers, peppers and potatoes) were exceptionally big.

In the neighbouring exhibition hall you try low gravity yourself and test your moonwalking skills. Or get strapped in and turned over for several minutes to simulate the stresses astronauts experience not knowing which way is "up". All this, and a 4-D cinema and intriguing "Time Tunnel" are all part of a day out at the Space Travel Theme Park.

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Where: Haidian Exhibition Hall, 2 Xinjiangongmen Lu, Haidian District (the northwest corner of Wanquanhe Bridge, North 4th Ring Road)

By Bus: 108, 708, 817, 904, 933, 968 and Special Bus No.5

Admission: Adults 68 yuan, students 48 yuan.  1 adult ticket also allows entry for up to 2 children (under 1.2 metres) free of charge.
Open: 8:30am-9:00pm (Monday-Friday) & 8:30am-10:00pm (weekends).

Season: April 18 - August 26, 2004

Contact: Telephone +86 10 6613 8500 & 6611 2486