THE PLAY'S THE THEME CHINA PICKS VALLEY FIRMS TO HELP DESIGN HIGH-TECH AMUSEMENT PARKS.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

At the invitation of the Chinese government, Gary Goddard hopped a plane last August to Ningbo, China, where city leaders drove him to hills outside the port city near Shanghai.

There, the co-founder of Landmark Entertainment Co. in Glendale and a designer trudged up the hills to survey a site locals wanted to transform into a theme park to anchor a resort.

Four hours and a few rough sketches later, the Three Castle Kingdom was born.

``The Chinese told us they wanted 'Star Wars,' they wanted it to be futuristic, imaginative,'' said Goddard, whose Landmark Entertainment Co.'s designs include Universal Studios' ``Jaws'' exhibit on the tram ride and the concept for the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. ``This is a very modern city that, having brought in many other industries, was now interested in tourism.''

So, too, are other provinces in this country of 1.2 billion, where capitalistic reforms and growing prosperity have people thinking of the weekend as never before.

The Chinese have long had Ferris wheels and roller coasters, and Splendid China in Shenzhen, like its counterpart in Florida, recounts the country's 5,000-year history through miniature replicas of the Great Wall, Imperial Palace and dwellings.

It will take two more years before the first Western-style theme parks open on the mainland, in Ningbo and Wuhan, but in each case they grow from vision to blueprint at Landmark's offices on San Fernando Road.

Toys and models litter this factory of fantasy where Goddard and co- founder Tony Christopher recently moved from North Hollywood.

Theirs is one of several firms in the San Fernando Valley that build, design or outfit theme park and rides around the world.

Bernard Bros. in San Fernando helped build many of the region's theme parks, including the ``Hollywood Backlot'' at The Walt Disney Co.'s California Adventure, which opens Thursday next to Disneyland in Anaheim.

While most of its work is done in the United States, Bernard Bros. recently consulted on the construction of a park in Seoul, South Korea.

``Most of the major metro markets in the U.S. are built out and a lot of the activity has been international in recent years,'' said Vice President Terry Zinger.

Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale is drawing up plans to open Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005. Disney's TokyoSea debuts later this year.

Landmark's projects have an advantage of being on the mainland because many Chinese may have trouble getting visas to get to Disney's Hong Kong park. Affording admission is another issue, said Michael Wade, president of China Trade Development Corp., a Century City-based export management company.

Goddard said the Ningbo park - in which Landmark will be a partner, a first for the company - will charge the equivalent of about $12 for admission.

The average Chinese city worker earns about $100 per month, compared to those in rural areas who get about $40 per month, according to Wade.

``The Chinese market has great opportunity for Western companies, and particularly those in the Los Angeles area and the San Fernando Valley, for the simple reason that we have the expertise in the entertainment industry and the rest of the world recognizes that,'' Wade said.

Goddard estimates the Ningbo and Wuhan parks can make a profit by drawing just 1 percent of the 200 million people living in their respective regions.

While staying culturally attuned to the tastes of Chinese theme park visitors, Goddard said they will want the same modern rides and attractions with universal and pop culture themes that Americans have become accustomed to.

``The last thing the Chinese people want is a theme park about China - they're surrounded by Chinese history, but they're exposed to the movies and music from America and they want that to reflect in the parks,'' Goddard said.

In many cases, visitors to these parks would not necessarily know they were in China, except the signs will be in Chinese and English, and hamburgers are served with rice.

Some local reference points are needed, a task that falls to the Monkey King, a beloved Chinese mythological character who is a prominent theme at the $200 million Wuhan project and who appears again in the medieval castle ride in Ningbo, where special three-dimensional effects will be added.

Ningbo's other castles will emphasize fantasy through a water ride for kids, while the future-themed castle takes visitors on a simulated ride through space past Saturn's rings and through a black hole.

Landmark is close to breaking ground on the Wuhan project, while the Ningbo park is about six months behind.

The project is a joint venture with the Ningbo Economic & Technical Development Zone, one of the country's first experiments offering favored tax status to local and foreign companies. The developers hope to eventually invest more than $100 million in its China Theme Park there.

Landmark is already pursuing a third and fourth park in China, one in the north at Dalian and another near Tibet in Zigong, to be called Dinosaur Kingdom because the area is world famous for its dinosaur fossils.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) A rendering by Glendale's Landmark Entertainment shows plans for the Three Castle Kingdom in Ningbo, China.

(2 -- color) Tony Christopher, left, and Gary Goddard of Landmark Entertainment Co. are using their theme park skills in China.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer