Tuning out from the hustle and bustle of the big city is easy when you get back to the simple things in life. Today we're continuing our list of the simple stuff we get up to in Shanghai when no one else is looking.

Painting Pictures

From computer nerds to muscle-head basketball players, we all need a creative outlet. Whether dancing in a club (or on DDR for the geeky), singing in the shower or doodling on your notebook during a meeting, creativity bubbles out of us. But, for more structured sessions, spend a Saturday putting brush to canvas at a painting workshop.

The Whale Town is hands down our favorite painting studio. Tucked in a small lane in the center of Jing’an, it offers oil and acrylic lessons for RMB100. The owner, Loli, is an amazing illustrator and eager to pass on her wicked ideas and mad painting skills to art newbies. If you are willing to grapple with a larger canvas, try Culture Matters in the same laneway. This retro shoe shop and painting studio offers lesson with bigger canvases at RMB160. Still think you are not the artistic type? MY Station has idiot-proof oil painting with pictures outlined and marked with numbers.

Words by Hailey Meng

DETAILS

Where: The Whale Town, No.72, Lane 1025 Nanjing Xi Lu, Tel: 158-0068-9662

Where:Culture Matters, No.63, Lane 1025 Nanjing Xi Lu, Tel: 5213-0889

Where: MY Station, 202, Star City, Exit 4, line 3 Hongkou Stadium metro station, Tel: 135-2424-5300

Climbing Trees

Like bed-bouncing, climbing trees is an activity that belongs to the earliest stages of childhood rebellion. It takes you back to the days when you first became interested in the outside world, but you weren’t yet cutting class or shoplifting.

Downtown parks are the obvious spot to hit, but be careful about which one because our lust for high branches only got us yelled at by bao’an in Jing’an Park. Fuxing Park at midnight, slightly tipsy, is a better bet. It has plenty of ripe branches perfect for wrapping your legs around. But for prime climbing territory, head to any of the big parks in the suburbs, such as Shanghai Gongqing Forest Park (¥15 entry), or to university campuses, where the trees are just as good and the security guards are used to people acting crazy.

Beginners, pick a sturdy tree with plenty of low branches. That gives climbing options and multiple roots of ascension. Think about how animals climb and look for gnarls, knots and bark holes that you can use as footholds. Use your legs more than your arms or you’ll tire out too quickly. Go slow and steady at first. You’ll be able to clamber up faster when you get used to it.

Go as high as you can before the branches get too thin and risk breaking. Move around in the crown and, once you’ve achieved your heights, spend a few minutes enjoying the view from the top. Descend slowly, facing the tree like a koala. Try not to end up seriously injured.

Words by Chersy Miao

DETAILS

Where: Fuxing Park, 105 Yandang Lu

Where: Gongqing Forest Park, 2000 Jungong Lu

Where: Shanghai Normal University, 100 Guilin Lu

Where: Fudan University, 220 Handan Lu

Boating

Tooling around the confines of the lakes at Century, Zhongshan and Gongqing Forest Parks is an easy escape from the grit and grime. Though none of the boats reach high speeds, with wind rustling the trees, sun shining on your face and pijiu hitting your lips, you can close your eyes and pretend you’re not trapped in a megalopolis of 20 million.

At Century Park (9am-5pm), RMB30 nets you a four-seater and RMB50 a boat for six. You pay by the hour with a refundable deposit of RMB100. Zhongshan Park (9am-3pm) has the same type of boats but each only seats four. Pay RMB40 per hour for an older boat or RMB60 for a newer model. Lay down RMB40 for a deposit.

A bit of a schlep but well worth the trek is Gongqing Forest Park (8:30am-5pm), which is in Yangpu, off the northernmost stop on Line 8. RMB15 gets you through the park’s gates where you’ll follow a winding dirt path to the lake. Four-seater row boats are available for RMB30 per hour with a RMB20 deposit. The lake here is the largest in the city and the one where you’re most likely to be drifting by your lonesome.

Words by Sophie Friedman

DETAILS

Where:Century Park, 1001 Jinxiu Lu

Where:Zhongshan Park, 780 Changning Lu

Where:Gongqing Forest Park, 2000 Jungong Lu

What other simple pleasures do you enjoy in Shanghai?

We've got more simple suggestions for you, take a look at our other lists The Simple Pleasures of Shanghai (Part 1)and The Simple Pleasures of Shanghai (Part 3)