Stealth Operation at Florida Splendid China

At the so-called Mausoleum of Genghis Khan

July 16, 2000 On Sunday, July 16, 2000, members of Citizens Against Communist Chinese Propaganda (CACCP) gained entry to the Chinese government owned and operated propaganda theme park known as Florida Splendid China. In addition to making statements on camera, the activists held high the Eastern Turkestan national flag in front of the Id Gah Mosque, Tomb of Apak Hoja and the 'Kashiga Bazaar' exhibits, the Inner Mongolian People's Party flag in front of the so-called Mausoleum of Genghis Khan, Mongolian Yurt and Nadam Fair exhibits, and the Tibetan National flag in front of the Potala Palace exhibits.

At the Tomb of Apak Hoja exhibit.

The activists spent almost two hours inside Florida Splendid China theme park and only ran into three other visitors. The exhibits falsely representing Inner Mongolia require the visitor to pass underneath a section of the Great Wall and are spread out over a large area. The mockup of the Mongolian Yurt is in disrepair and kept locked; the small figurines that represent the Nadam Fair are many, but the grass and weeds almost cover them. The so-called 'Mausoleum of Genghis Khan' is also need of maintenance, with broken figurines scattered about and weeds growing through the exhibit. Standing in front of the so-called 'Mausoleum of Genghis Khan', a member of CACCP held the Inner Mongolian People's Party flag and made a statement. Temperatures at the park were in the high nineties and humid. Recent rains had filled most of the pools, ponds and water features, but some still were greenish-yellow in color.

At the Potala palace exhibit.

Further along the walkway were the exhibits that are supposed to prove that Uighurstan/Eastern Turkestan has been Chinese since ancient times. As with the Mongolian exhibits, the Id Gah Mosque and Tomb of Apak Hoja exhibits were in disrepair with chipped and broken tiles and smashed figurines. Also there were weeds growing through parts of the exhibits. The figurines to the sides of the exhibits, named 'Kashiga Bazaar' were almost unidentifiable as the grass and weeds almost covered the displays. Standing in front of what the Chinese call 'Xiang Fei's Tomb', known to the Uighur people who built it as the Tomb of Apak Hoja, a member of CACCP held the Eastern Turkestan national flag and made a statement. The speaker that provided narration for visitors was missing from these exhibits. Overgrown grass, vines and weeds obscure many of the exhibits inside Florida Splendid China. Exhibits that are showcased as 'photo-opportunities' were kept in best repair. Most of these exhibits are Chinese and not from Inner Mongolia, Tibet, or Eastern Turkestan. At the Potala Palace exhibit on the back wall of Florida Splendid China, (the original was home to sucessive Dalai Lamas since the 17th century), the activists circumambulated the exhibit and holding the national flag of the Tibetan nation made a statement about the inclusion of the exhibit in a theme park known as Florida Splendid China. The activists noticed that the thangka (religious painting) that once was rolled out for a quarter and the speaker system for narration about the exhibit had been removed. As with all the exhibits mentioned previously, the weeds and grass growing around the figurines almost obscured them. Large weeds were growing out of the exhibit in some places. Figurines on many of the Chinese exhibits are missing or smashed with the pieces still littering the exhibit. Security used to be very tight, but now it seems that the maintenance department doesn't even look at the exhibits. This action was to commemorate the 4th anniversary of the Grand Opening of 'ChinaTown.' The ChinaTown change was completed on July 17, 1996 and opened the front end of the park with all the shops and restaurants to the public for free. 224,000 visitors paid admission during 1996, but that figure has been reduced to 88,000 for 1999 (according to reports.) During the operation, one of the activists (identified only as 'Tikan') was quoted, "Florida Splendid China is ripe for dramatic non-violent political action. People should not forget Splendid China is owned and operated by the Communist Chinese government and with the apparant lack of security, we can do anything here we wish."