HONG KONG, China - Last week, I found myself lying in a coffin watching video images of my supposed demise. No, I am not entranced by the macabre. I was just one of the lucky few to get a sneak peak at the attractions of Hong Kong's newest theme park: a life-size Noah's Ark.

The claustrophobic should probably skip the coffin adventure.

So what does a coffin have to do with a Biblical boat full of animals?

Organizers told us both are supposed to get visitors to reflect on their lives. Spencer Lu, the project director, said, in the story of Noah, a father (Noah) saves his family from pending doom (massive floods). He says his 450-foot long wooden replica aims to remind tourists of the importance of family values. Marketing family or "positive" values, as Lu likes to call them, helps to distinguish his park from others.

The coffin is the most obvious attraction geared to visitors unsure of the afterlife. Before climbing into the box, I was asked to think for 20 minutes about my life and draft my goals over the next five years. Once I had sorted out my life's plan, I was shut into the casket where a computer monitor flashed scenes of doctors hovering over me, darkness, pallbearers carrying my body to a cemetery, human skeletons, a piece of paper fluttering in the wind at, presumably, my grave.

For me, the experience was eerie but not life-altering (though it did make me think about changing my life insurance plan). Lu told me the ride is only for people ages 16 and up - no young children are allowed. I would suggest the claustrophobic skip the coffin adventure as well.

Lu insists that, despite the Judaeo-Christian origins of the story, the ark is not meant to be religious. He says visitors can have fun taking photos with the various animals (male and female) or take a spin around the learning centers for children (where they can marvel at the not-so-Biblical dinosaur skulls).

The park was funded by the Hong Kong government but is run by Sun Hung Kai Properties, a local developer whose leadership includes Christian evangelical billionaire Thomas Kwok.

The park hopes to attract half a million people a year and is targeting the Chinese. Visitors to the ark will bring profits to its creators and, perhaps, also bring them closer to their Creator.

Noah's Ark opened on May 25, 2009, in Hong Kong.