Throughout mainland China there's a slightly chilling admiration for military power and for weaponry both high- and low-tech. Much of the admiration for the West (when admitted) is for its ownership of the kinds of munitions that, if our own generals are to be believed, double-check the address, knock politely, and ask for ID before deciding whether or not to explode. The Russian aircraft carrier Minsk, launched in 1978 and once the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, is of a more clockwork era, with not a microchip in sight, but its sheer scale and power are still impressive, as is the relentless marketing to which visitors are subjected from the moment they pass the monument to peace at the entrance, a-flutter with doves, to enter what is a large-scale celebration of the weapons of war.
The ticket office is in a vaguely St. Petersburgian fake palace, behind which are a shooting range where you can fire tennis balls at assorted objects, stalls selling animated military dolls, a row of MIG fighter planes, a tank or two, an inflatable Russian bear presiding over a number of centrifugal rides, and a Soyuz space capsule (the genuine article).
The carrier itself has been substantially refitted, with stirring Russian military music playing through a PA system. Your visit commences with a compulsory 10-minute cinema show on the history of aircraft carriers, into which you are ushered by pretty young women in naval uniforms, before you follow a clearly marked route through torpedo hall, bridge, deck, anchor room, missile elevators, and just about every other corner, with informative signage in good English. At every turn there's a souvenir stall (¥15/$1.90 for a postcard!), or a stall selling obsolete military equipment, or another stall selling radio-controlled toys. The deck has occasional reenactments of Russian military parades; the officers' mess is a restaurant serving black bread and imitations of Russian food; and the main aircraft hanger is a disco with neon signs shaped like weaponry, flight-simulator rides, and a stall selling popcorn. If you survive all this, then for ¥30 ($3.75) you can be whizzed around the ship at water level in a small motorboat.
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