Somewhere in the world Willy Wonka is JEALOUS!

China opened up the World Chocolate Wonderland to tourists on January 29 in Beijing. This park introduces 3,000 years of chocolate history in a modern and historical perspective. The artifacts in this "wonderland" are made up of 80,000 kilograms of chocolate and spans over 20,000 square meters. It took two years to make the exhibit and the halls are all temperature controlled to ensure nothing melts.

The wonderland has five indoor halls, including the World's Chocolate Hall, World's Candy Hall, Wonderland Theme Hall, Sweet Experience Hall and Sweet Gift Hall, and outdoor activity areas Sweet Stage and Sweet Shopping Street.

All the chocolate used was imported from Belgium and cost more than 200 yuan a kilo. With 200 yuan converting to $30, and there being 80,000 kilo's worth of chocolate--the chocolate alone costs $2,400,000. Imagine the costs with labor, insurance, etc!

One exhibit includes a BMW model made of chocolate that required 4 tons of chocolate, 10 craftsmen and 6 months time. See the BBC link below to view the video that shows the BMW and the chocolate "Great Wall of China".

The theme park includes China's largest chocolate waterfall that is in a glass house with a constant temperature. There's 1.5 tons of smooth and thick liquid chocolate pouring from it.


The exhibition will close in April and reopen with new displays the following January. Let's hope the investors cover their costs and make profit via tickets! BBC video