The 30-year-old Tibetan monk, dressed in the traditional maroon robe, stopped, then slowly strode around the display where a thousand figurines re-enacted a springtime scene 200 years ago in his ancestors' homeland. He wept uncontrollably, shielding his face as cameras clicked and protesters in the background chanted "Free Tibet!"

Dsmpel walked through the park with three other Tibetan Buddhist monks. They and more than 50 others had come to protest Sunday's public opening of the attraction, a $100 million joint venture between American Eastern International Corp. of Los Angeles and China Travel Services Ltd. of Hong Kong, a Chinese government travel agency.

Splendid China, patterned after the original Splendid China in Shenzhen, China, across the border from Hong Kong, features 60 small copies of historic sites and landmarks, including Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, home to the venerated spiritual leader Dalai Lama, who was forced out of his homeland by Chinese occupation forces.

The demonstrators say the attraction misrepresents Tibetan and Mongolian life; that the Chinese government has glossed over the ravages of occupation in those two areas.

They claim the park wasn't put in attraction-rich Florida just to make money, that it is a political statement from the Communist government of China. They want the displays concerning Mongolia and Tibet removed.

"It's been very upsetting to us because there is no freedom in Tibet," Dsmpel said.

John Ackerly, a Washington, D.C., lawyer and director of the International Campaign for Tibet, said unsuccessful attempts were made to talk with park officials before the Sunday demonstration.

Splendid China officials denied the park carried a political message. They said it was intended only to showcase unique areas of their Asian nation and proclaimed Sunday's opening was a success, with 3,000 people admitted by midafternoon.

Outside the park entrance, protesters passed out literature and waved signs at motorists that read "Destruction is not "Splendid' " and "China Out of Tibet." An Osceola sheriff's deputy watched from a parked department car. "It's a Chinese attempt to beautify what is ugly in China," said Thubten Samphel of the Office of Tibet in New York City. "We feel that the tourists should be educated about China."

The Chinese occupied Tibet in 1950. For nine years, the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetans, tried negotiating peaceful coexistence with his people and the Chinese. When that failed, he and thousands of others fled in 1959 to India, establishing their government-in-exile in Dharamsala.

The Chinese gutted all but 10 of Tibet's 6,254 monasteries, and about 1.2 million people have died in combat and through massive famines caused by collectivized farming and diversion of Tibetan grain to China.

"The Potala Palace represents the bad things the Chinese are doing in Tibet," said monk Ngawang Chojor, 59, who lived in a monastery at the palace. "This is an attempt to destroy our history."

Chojor, Dsmpel and fellow monks Tsering Namgyal and Jampa Rimpoche, living temporarily in Ithaca, N.Y., turned their backs to the miniature palace and prayed. Across the fence, protesters waved signs and chanted.

The picketing outside Splendid China began Saturday, during an invitation-only grand opening. Demonstrators were back at the entrance Sunday by 10 a.m. At 3 p.m., 15 -- among them the monks -- left their signs and leaflets behind and bought tickets for $23.55 apiece.

"You are welcome to do everything that a normal visitor does," Haven Riviere, the park's operations director, told them. "We're not here to make a political statement; we're here to portray the people of China."

Security guards kept pace with the monks.

"It's wonderful in there," said Henson. "If there's anything legitimate to the protest, I don't see why they don't compromise and give some more information. It'd be better for everybody and we'd be better informed."

Chinese musicians played ethnic music as visitors wandered through the well-manicured, 76- acre park that took two years to build. Here was a miniature Great Wall, there the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan.

Also taking the tour was Tsengelt Gonchig, 26, who moved to New Jersey from Inner Mongolia eight months ago.

Back outside, he once again held up his country's flag and a "Free Mongolia" sign.

"It's a contradiction to confuse the outside world," he said. "The Inner Mongolian situation is like Tibet. We have no religious rights, cultural rights. The Chinese destroy Mongolian culture here, in your country, in this park.

"This is wrong."