Window on China

Longtan District, Taiwan

“Park full of miniatures and mediocre rides”

Do you know Mini Europe in Brussels? Or Madurodam in The Hague? And did you know that there’s a similar park in Taiwan? Window On China combines miniatures of well-known monuments with some small-scaled amusement park rides. The miniature sections are mainly focused on China and Taiwan, but they’ve got an American and a European-themed part as well.

You can find Window On China in the Longtan District, 44 kilometres from Taoyuan International Airport and 50 kilometres from the city centre of Taipei. The park can easily be reached by Uber or taxi (our rate was 2,400 Taiwanese dollars, approximately 71 euros). Another option is to use Leofoo Village’s direct shuttle bus from MRT Jingan Station in Taipei. Leofoo Village is a theme park which can literally be found just around the corner of Window On China, within walking distance.

ROLLER COASTERS

Window On China features two roller coasters, both built by the Dutch manufacturer Vekoma. They’ve got a small O-shaped kiddie coaster called Mini Mine Train (I only rode it because of the credit) and Laser Blaster, an indoor roller coaster. Laser Blaster was surprisingly smooth and it featured some surprising lighting effects. It’s just a Vekoma Junior Coaster with some cheap Christmas lights, but I actually liked it a lot.

MINIATURES

It’s fun to discover the park’s miniatures and most of them are quite elaborate. The European and American sections are a little strange (dinos and eggs at Stonehenge… really?) but the Chinese part is very cool. Consider it as some kind of Miniland like you know it from the Legoland parks. Interestingly, the park is divided in two separate parts and you should hop on a train to travel between these both areas. The area closest to the park entrance is dedicated to Taiwan and China. The other half of the park includes most of the rides and the American/European miniatures. Avoiding crowds is easy if you visit the rear end of the park as early as possible.

WORTH A VISIT?

Window On China isn’t the most exciting theme park on Earth. The areas with miniature monuments are beautiful and well-kept, but the actual rides look rather simple. It’s a perfect place for children, which explains why the park was filled with school groups during our visit. However, as a twenty-something year old, the place just isn’t that interesting. Window On China wasn’t on our to do lists at first, but we decided to visit the park due to its proximity to Leofoo Village Theme Park. I’m glad that I got the park’s two coaster credits, but I don’t think I’ll ever come back.

PHOTO GALLERY

Would you travel there to get those two credits? Do you think that Stonehenge should adopt a dino? Share your opinion in the comments section at the bottom of this page.