MAO MEETS MICKEY MOUSE

Well, not quite, but China's Shenzhen Splendid China Development Company has signed a $250,000 contract with Sequoia Creative Inc. of Sun Valley, Calif., to produce mechanical animated wildlife for its "Splendid China" theme park. The park is less than hour from Hong Kong, in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, and is scheduled to open in October.Sequoia will make mechanical Asian elephants, buffalo, and sheep, which will graze 100 acres of the park.