Still feels like summer

This was one of those weekends that was not full of birthday parties and lots of scheduled activities. We needed to get out of the house and a park trip was the perfect activity. Trista, my editor at City Weekend suggested I take the family to check out the new rides at the park in People’s Square. I had a very foggy memory of a few rides there the last time we wandered through that section of the park about a year ago. I put it on my list for family activities, and we finally made it over there Saturday afternoon.

People’s Square is huge, as those familiar with the area know. The area with the rides is on the side closest to Nanjing Road, but for some reason we exited our taxi near the Shanghai Museum. I was totally confused and the kids and my husband started accusing me of taking them to the wrong park. Then group think set in and I doubted my memory and thought I had really screwed up. But then I realized that there was the more park-like side to People’s Square and we crossed under the road to the correct side of the park.

We walked past the lily ponds and Barbarossa Lounge, through the throngs of Chinese parents looking for husbands and wives for their sons and daughters, and wove our way around to the children’s area. The rides have been improved and there are quite a few of them. The kids did most of our testing. My husband and I went on one ride and both ended up dizzy and a little nauseous. I think kids are better able to handle being spun and twirled. Then something happens when you grow up that makes that less fun for many adults.

Around and round we go!

The rides were about RMB 10-15 each, but the good news is they were quality rides. The durations were much longer than the rides we frequent in nearby Zhongshan Park. The roller coaster, while small, took the kids around and around. Squeals of delight from all the riders and the joint thumbs up signs after each ride let me know the rides were a hit with my kids.

Cooling off

We left to catch the subway home and cooled off in the People's Park subway station with some gelato for the girls and a Dairy Queen Blizzard for the boys. While the warm weather remains, we are taking advantage of the great parks and outdoor activities around town.

Exact location of the rides: near Exit 18 of the People’s Park subway stop.