Dauling Dragon (Chinese: 木翼双龙) is a wooden roller coaster located at Happy Valley in Wuhan, Hubei, China. It is China's third wooden roller coaster and its first racing roller coaster.[1] Although billed as a racing coaster, it contains elements that make it similar to dueling coasters, such as racing portions, head-on collision turn-arounds, and sections where the tracks weave around each other. This is much like Lightning Racer at Hersheypark (however, Lightning Racer was manufactured by Great Coasters International).

Dauling Dragon
Happy Valley
Coordinates 30°35′28″N 114°23′16″E / 30.591230°N 114.387885°E / 30.591230; 114.387885
Status Operating
Opening date April 29, 2012 (2012-04-29)
General Statistics
Type Wood – Racing
Manufacturer Martin & Vleminckx
Designer The Gravity Group
Lift/launch system Chain lift hill
Height 105 ft (32.0 m) 105 ft (32.0 m)
Drop 101.8 ft (31.0 m) 101.8 ft (31.0 m)
Length 3,651.6 ft (1,113.0 m) 3,690.9 ft (1,125.0 m)
Speed 54.1 mph (87.1 km/h) 54.1 mph (87.1 km/h)
Inversions 0 0
Max vertical angle 56° 57°
Trains 4 trains with 6 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 24 riders per train.
Dauling Dragon at RCDB
Pictures of Dauling Dragon at RCDB
The two SY steam locomotives that mark the entrance to the ride

Dauling Dragon is famous for its iconic "high five" section, in which at the top of a hill each track banks to 90 degrees towards the other track in such a fashion that riders could appear to reach up and high five riders in the other train, although the trains are too far away for actual contact to be made. This has earned Dauling Dragon the nickname "High Five Coaster".

Awards

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Mitch Hawker's Best Roller Coaster Poll: Best Wooden-Tracked Roller Coaster[2]
Year 2012
Left Track
8
Right Track
9

References

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  1. ^ Marden, Duane. "Dauling Dragon  (Happy Valley)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  2. ^ Hawker, Mitch (2013). "Best Wooden Roller Coaster Poll 19 year results table". Best Roller Coaster Poll. Retrieved May 23, 2013.