World Chocolate Wonderland, Taipei, Taiwan

From July to September the National Taiwan Science Education Center (NTSEC) in Taipei is playing host to exhibits from the World Chocolate Wonderland. The World Chocolate Wonderland is a new (opened January of this year) theme park in Beijing, PRC and I suspect that this is an attempt to drum up nearby international tourism. The actual park in Beijing is only open from January to April, so what better way to save the energy required for refrigeration during the hot summer months then to get someone else to do it…in the name of cultural exchange, of course.

What is there to do?
For adults, there is a timeline of the “culture” and travels of the cocoa bean. There is also a nice display on how chocolate is packaged and marketed in various countries.

This is followed by some more interactive exhibits, including a “smell zone”, in which one can sniff various ingredients often mixed with chocolate.

Next comes my favorite, and the most interesting, part of the whole experience: historical artifacts and works of art recreated in chocolate form. Check it out.

400 Terracota…err…chocolate warriors.

The Great Wall of Ch…ocolate.

And for all you lego or photography fans out there, are you ready to have your minds blown? It’s a chocolate replica of a lego replica of a Barnack Leica.

For me, this was the coup-de-gras. It was a Chinese Imperial era epic-style painting done on a “parchment” made from white chocolate. It was as long as the room was and really impossible to show in a photo, so I did the best that I could with video as I walked alongside. This was handheld, so apologies in advance for the shake and off-kilter composition.

As for the kids…well, for an extra NT$100, they get to make their own chocolate candy.

Here are a few final random photos from my visit to the World Chocolate Wonderland exhibit at the NTSEC.

Here’s how to get there:
Tickets are NT$200 and the show runs until September 26. Hours of operation are 9am-6pm daily.

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