CHOCOLATE WONDERLAND, BEIJING

China has unveiled the world’s largest chocolate wonderland in Beijing. Among the 500 life-size figures exhibited in the fair there are chocolate shoes, clothes and also a life-sized BMW 1-series car. According to a report in the official China Daily newspaper, 10 craftsmen needed four tons of chocolate and six months to make the car.

Organizers are hoping that Beijing’s “World Chocolate Wonderland”, on the Olympic Green near the Bird’s Nest Stadium, will boost the chocolate market in China, where the candy is not as popular as it is in Western countries.

The 20,000-square-metre (215,000 square-foot) venue includes three halls full of exhibits and demonstrations, all temperature-controlled to keep the elaborate replicas — safely behind huge glass panes — from melting. Organizers hope to attract one million visitors to the park before it closes in April, when the weather will begin to get too warm. It will then reopen next January, with all-new displays.