Polishing the image of abandoned theme parks

Artist taps into faded memories to provide a dreamlike perspective of dilapidated and forgotten entertainment centers, Yang Feiyue reports.

Like the towering plumes of water at the end of a log flume ride, the nostalgia crashes over you like a wave as soon as you step into the Times Paradise exhibition, being held at Beijing's 798 Art Zone.

Photographs featuring scenes of amusement parks located across the country, from different time periods and in varying states of repair, will send visitors whizzing down memory lane and back to the carefree days of their childhood.

Roller coasters, Ferris wheels, feats of human skill and wild animal exhibits are the major elements of the photography display.

They are the result of more than three years of painstaking effort by Zhou Chengzhou, a film director and photographic artist, originally from Central China's Hunan province.