The Coolness Harvested at Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park in the Late Summer of 38 Degrees

Duration: 1 day. Time: August. Per capita cost: 500 yuan. With whom: Friends. Ways of playing: Photography, self-driving, independent travel. The author visited these places: Shanghai Dishui Lake Xintiandi. Published on August 25, 2020 at 11:46. Regarding Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park. Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park is a name that is not unfamiliar. I have heard of it long ago. But this is the first time I have come here. It is located by Dishui Lake in Shanghai. It is a theme park developed around marine cultural characteristics. There are mainly five theme areas: Mermaid Bay, Polar Town, Ice and Snow Kingdom, Underwater Wonders, Ocean Tribe and distinctive marine-themed resort hotels. Six animal exhibition venues – Antarctic Penguin Pavilion, Sea Beast Exploration Pavilion, Iceberg Arctic Pavilion, Underwater World Pavilion, Volcano Shark Pavilion, Coral Jellyfish Pavilion. Nine star shows – ‘Killer Whale Science Show’, ‘Dolphin Love Song’, ‘Walrus Adventure’, ‘Beluga Love’, ‘Mermaid Fairy Tale’, ‘Water Dance Among Fishes’, ‘Town Party’, ‘Flyboard Man’, ‘Ocean Dream Floats Parade’. Six amusement facilities – Volcano Rafting, Dolphin Roller Coaster, Time-Space Cable Car, Deep Sea Adventure and so on. It can be said that there are endless amusement projects, viewing pavilions and wonderful performances here. If you want to have a good experience and play here, you really need to make a good travel guide and spend one or two days. General description of tourist routes. Generally, the tourist here is basically a one-day tour. This time we are also on a one-day tour. There are the following two relatively classic one-day tour routes: 1. One-day tour of Haichang: (1) Sea Beast Exploration Pavilion – (2) Killer Whale Theater – (3) Antarctic Penguin Pavilion – (4) Dolphin Roller Coaster – (5) Coral Jellyfish Pavilion – (6) Volcano Rafting – (7) Dolphin Theater – (8) Underwater World Pavilion – (9) Volcano Time-Space Cable Car – (10) Iceberg Arctic Pavilion. 2. Highlight check-in route of Haichang: (1) Killer Whale Theater – (2) Walrus Theater – (3) Sea Beast Exploration Pavilion – (4) Mermaid Bay – (5) Mermaid Square – (6) Antarctic Penguin Pavilion – (7) Coral Jellyfish Pavilion – (8) Dolphin Theater – (9) Volcano Rafting – (10) Underwater World Pavilion. For the above two ways of playing, basically all the representative points of the scenic area can be checked in one by one. For some other marine squares, marine carousels, dolphin discovery lakes, mermaid stages, Volcano Shark Pavilion and so on will be encountered on the way. You can choose to check in and play on the way. If you think it’s fun, you can play carefully. The whole scenic area can be said to be quite large. It takes a whole day to watch by walking (including queuing up, etc. You may not be able to finish all the attractions in one day). So you can focus on playing the projects you are interested in. For theater performance times and scenic area guides, you can choose to enter the WeChat mini-program of the scenic area. This mini-program can provide real-time positioning and navigation, which is very intuitive. You don’t need to take unnecessary detours. There are also clear time points for performances. You can reasonably arrange the order of watching performances. If arranged well, it will save a lot of waiting time.
Summary of highlights of this trip. Our trip to Haichang Ocean Park is also one day. Generally, it starts at around 10 am and ends before 6 pm. We have visited basically all the check-in points in the scenic area, and watched almost all the theater performances. It can be said that the experience is very wonderful. Our route is roughly as follows: Morning: Sea Beast Exploration Hall – Iceberg Arctic Hall – Beluga Love performance – Walrus Theater. At noon: Have lunch at the Penguin Restaurant (set meals costing around seventy or eighty per person), and visit the Antarctic Penguin Hall by the way. Afternoon: Orca Theater – Time and Space Cable Car – Watch Dolphin Love Song at the Dolphin Theater – Visit the Volcanic Shark Hall – Watch the Mermaid Fairy Tale performance at the Volcanic Shark Hall – Experience the Dolphin Roller Coaster – Visit the Coral Jellyfish Hall – Wet and Refreshing Party – Stroll around the food festival – Underwater World Hall – Watch the Water Dance and Fish performance – End of the trip. The whole itinerary can be said to be very tight. After a day of playing, it is still quite intense. Although this day is Friday, we also find that there are still quite a lot of tourists in Haichang Ocean Park. Some entertainment facilities still need to queue up, and for some performances, you still need to go early to occupy a good viewing position (such as Beluga Love and Mermaid Fairy Tale). The final trip summary is that you must have a sequence of visiting and touring in advance. Otherwise, you will wait a lot in one day but experience relatively few things. Collection of photos of the ocean park. During this visit to the ocean park, we found that the oceanarium is very suitable for taking silhouette emotional blockbuster photos. With the blue indoor lighting, people stand in front of the glass and don’t need to pose deliberately. It’s easy to take good photos. For those traveling with kids or accompanying girlfriends or best friends, you can take tourist photos to your heart’s content. Of course, this is also the shooting location of the recently popular TV drama ‘Nothing But Thirty’. If you have watched that TV drama, during the playing process, you can see many scenes here in the TV drama. For example, on the road of the Iceberg Arctic Hall, the whale shark restaurant in the Volcanic Shark Hall (this is an internet-famous restaurant, and it’s very beautiful for taking photos and checking in), and the performance of confessing to Chen Yu in the drama. Specific shot-by-shot explanations of this trip. Although Haichang Ocean Park is close to Dishui Lake and it takes a long distance to get there from downtown Shanghai, the transportation is still very convenient. You can reach it by self-driving or subway. If you drive by yourself, you don’t need to worry about not having a parking space. Before entering the scenic area, you need to go through three inspections. During the epidemic period, the health code will be checked (foreign tourists can scan the code to see their own health code). The second time is a bag inspection. A small amount of sealed food is still allowed to be brought in. The third inspection is to check tickets and swipe ID cards. After entering the scenic area, you can visit and check in one by one according to your set route. We turned right at the entrance and directly entered the Sea Beast Exploration Hall. In the Sea Beast Exploration Hall, you can see nearly a hundred sea beasts of six kinds. If you are careful, you can find greedy sea lions, honest manatees, naughty otters, and lazy seals.

The park is divided into two levels, above ground and underground. On the ground level, visitors can observe seals basking in the sun, their shiny skin and black eyes, and watch as they splash into the water with a plop. If the heat above ground becomes unbearable, one can descend to the underground level where, through glass windows, one can see the seals swimming, creating an immersive experience. Standing by the glass, it feels as if they are swimming right beside you, and many children can be seen pressed against the glass, fascinated by these creatures. After visiting the Marine Mammal Pavilion, one proceeds to the Iceberg Arctic Pavilion. This pavilion is noticeable from outside the park, as it stands as a high point within the scenic area. Upon entering, the coolness is immediately felt, providing a refreshing contrast to the outdoor heat of thirty-six or seven degrees. Strolling through, one can observe numerous Arctic species, with dozens of Arctic inhabitants, such as walruses, belugas, polar bears, Arctic wolves, Arctic foxes, bearded seals, and spotted seals. Upon entering, one can see the active Arctic foxes and the lazy Arctic wolves lying on the ground, along with the shifting polar bears. It is said that the two polar bears here were artificially bred in a natural setting; they are ‘Pi Zu,’ who loves swimming, and the quiet and gentle ‘Ya Tou.’ The most notable resident here is likely the internet-famous bearded seal—Ding Ding. This name is incredibly vivid, as when one approaches the glass where it resides, one can directly see its large, flat face pressed against the glass, with its protruding nose now on the same plane as its eyes, making it look very amusing and cute. Seeing it, one might wonder who taught it this skill, for it is truly deserving of its popularity. The Iceberg Arctic Pavilion’s most time-consuming attraction is probably the Beluga Love Performance. Before the show, one can listen to some educational commentary about belugas, and attentive listening can lead to a wealth of knowledge about these creatures. The number of people waiting for the performance is increasing, with the tiered walkways and the large glass windows filling up. I found a position of moderate height to wait for the performance to begin. As the performers (belugas and actors) take their places, one can witness the harmonious dance between humans and belugas in the water, showcasing graceful movements. The beluga uses its head to push against the performer’s feet to accelerate, and also bends its body to strike a beautiful pose with the performer. Watching such a performance, one can’t help but think about the countless days and nights of communication required to achieve such a level of coordination—it is truly remarkable. Near noon, I caught a sea lion performance at the Sea Lion Theater. Glancing around at the audience, it seemed not very full, perhaps because many visitors did not calculate their time so precisely.
The Walrus Theater is situated in the Polar Town theme area, featuring a Broadway-style stage. Inside, several high stools are connected to resemble train carriages. The main performers include a walrus weighing over a thousand pounds and three agile sea lions, along with their well-coordinated conservationists. Following the instructions of the conservationists, both the walrus and sea lions perform comical body language, clapping, acting cute, showing off their temper, doing sit-ups, and even one-handed handstands. It feels as if they are all-talented walruses and sea lions. The entire performance lasts about twenty minutes, and the final part of the show includes an interactive experience for tourists. If you wish to participate in such an experience, it is recommended to sit closer to the front and respond actively.
The Penguin Restaurant is a lunch spot themed around penguins. It is connected to the Antarctic Penguin Pavilion, with many seats offering direct views of the penguins. The menu primarily consists of set meals and children’s meals, with an average cost of about 70 per person. The restaurant, designed in line with the penguin pavilion, has two levels. The highlight of the Antarctic Penguin Pavilion is the ‘Penguin Super Bowl,’ made of acrylic glass material, showcasing the natural living habits of nearly a hundred penguins, including Emperor, Adélie, and Gentoo penguins. The best viewing spot for the Penguin Super Bowl is on the first floor, where you can look up at the Emperor penguins standing on the ice blocks and see various penguins swimming freely in the penguin bowl. For a closer view of the penguins, you can climb to the second floor and choose a spot near the glass to observe their black and white contrast colors, fur, sharp beaks, and spirited little eyes. Therefore, visiting the penguin pavilion can conveniently coincide with lunch, and the taste of the set meals is quite acceptable, with the overall dining congestion being manageable.
After lunch and viewing the Antarctic penguins, the next performance is at the Orca Theater. The Orca Theater is an open-air venue, much larger than indoor theaters, and naturally, the summer temperature is relatively higher. However, sitting in the stands is quite cool. The stands are divided into three sections. A friendly reminder: if you wish to get wet, you can choose to sit on either side close to the stage, but be prepared to get wet or bring an umbrella or raincoat, as the orcas may splash water during the performance. Regardless of where you sit, there is no need to worry about missing the show, as a large electronic screen in front will display the entire performance from the best angles.
The entire performance begins with a dreamlike animation story, leading into a dialogue with orcas, urging humans to protect our marine friends, safeguard the ocean environment, and cherish the diversity of marine life. The splendor of the orca show is something I feel can only be grasped and not fully expressed in words. Even as I tried to capture the moment with my camera, I found myself missing some of the most beautiful shots, such as their flips out of the water. In summary, the significance of advocating for animal protection outweighs the performance itself. After the orca show, we immediately took a ride on the park’s Time-Space Cable Car. The Time-Space Cable Car connects the Iceberg Arctic Pavilion and the Volcano Shark Pavilion, and it is the only unobstructed water-land viewing cable car in the country. The viewing angle is unparalleled, allowing one to see the scenery from a height, such as the thrills of roller coasters and river rafting. However, the cable car is somewhat enclosed except for a few ventilation holes at the bottom, making it a bit stuffy in the summer, although the ride is short. We arranged our visit to the Dolphin Theater according to our own pace. After passing the Shark Pavilion on the Time-Space Cable Car, we arrived at the Dolphin Theater. Compared to the Orca Theater, this theater is also quite spacious and is an indoor venue. We arrived a bit early and saw tourists gradually filling in. Before long, two foreigners came out to warm up the audience before the show. This interactive warm-up was very effective, and soon the entire theater was lively, with no trace of boredom before the performance began. The Dolphin Theater features technologically interactive design, combining high-tech equipment such as sound, light, electricity, and water screens, along with the integration of dolphins and actors, providing visitors with an immersive experience. To be honest, I was quite surprised by how well dolphins and humans can cooperate. The harmony between human trainers and marine life in the same performance is truly incredible. The performances here are still vividly remembered when writing this travelogue, such as the scenes of humans and dolphins dancing together in the water, and the graceful movements of several dolphins leaping out of the water, which are all very aspirational. After watching the dolphin performance, we returned to the Volcano Shark Pavilion in a few steps. We had passed by earlier without careful observation, but this time we took a small tour and found that this place is a gathering of different shark species. Entering from the entrance is like entering a shark cabin, with different shark knowledge on both sides, accompanied by text explanations. If you are lucky, you can also hear the explanations from the on-site staff. In addition to learning about sharks here, there is also a mermaid performance and an internet-famous restaurant—the Whale Shark Restaurant. It can be said that the mermaid performance can be seen while sitting in the Whale Shark Restaurant, of course, if you do not consume, you cannot enter the Whale Shark Restaurant.
This is the very spot where Lin Youyou and Xu Huanshan dine in the drama ‘Nothing But Thirty’. With a view close to the glass, framed by the ocean fish behind, the setting is undeniably romantic, no wonder it’s a favorite scene for many. After exiting the shark science vessel, one encounters a vast space where the mermaid performance takes place. Without waiting for long, you can witness the beautiful mermaids gracefully dancing in the water, sometimes accompanied by the swimming fish. While they are busy with their performance, they occasionally greet the audience. The mermaid princess from fairy tales must look something like this in front of you! As for the thrilling Dolphin Coaster, I only understood why it’s called so after riding it. The coaster’s track spans half the park, visible from almost every corner, always tempting one to try. Some may feel scared about the roller coaster, but after experiencing it, you’ll find it thrilling and not as terrifying as expected. From start to finish, it felt like only a few tens of seconds, just as my body was adjusting, it was immediately thrown to the side again, with the passengers behind me screaming in excitement. I was sitting in the front, my body constantly swaying left and right with the coaster. Fortunately, this coaster doesn’t have a 360-degree spin, but it still took us through the sky and under the sea, even passing through the belly of a dolphin (which must be the origin of its name). A gentle reminder, there are quite a few people riding the roller coaster, so be sure to plan your time to queue accordingly. The Mermaid Plaza is a place for a splashing party in the hot summer days. Playing with water can cool down, and here, in addition to the Volcano Rafting, there’s also a water splashing party. Of course, you have to let loose to enjoy this. It seems that most people here are with their children, with adults being a bit restrained, while the kids, dressed in swimsuits or raincoats, are having a great time. It’s not just about playing with water guns and bubbles, but also about the lively dance performances by attractive young men and women, which lift the atmosphere of the event. The Coral Jellyfish Pavilion is a quieter place, where you can peacefully watch the jellyfish gently swaying in the water, enhanced by the changing RGB lights, always giving a sense of the ocean’s mystery. Indeed, visitors are constantly looking for the best angles to capture these creatures. Besides the graceful jellyfish here, there are also colorful large coral towers, adding more clarity to our understanding of the ocean. The Underwater World Pavilion is the final stop of this trip, around five in the afternoon. Stepping into this exhibition hall, you find yourself in a dual-channel underwater world, where you can see various marine creatures swimming overhead and beside you. Watching the flow of people and the slow-moving marine life, one can’t help but marvel at the diversity of marine life. Reflecting on this trip to the ocean park, it has indeed been educational. Not only did we watch different theater performances, but we also quietly absorbed written knowledge and observed the moving species, vividly narrating the mystery of the ocean.
After strolling through the underwater tunnel, there’s an enchanting performance where humans dance amidst fish. Watching schools of yellow fish species swimming around the performers is a romantic sight. Although the performance is brief, it is indeed spectacular. The underwater performance may seem simple, but it is the result of their hard work and practice. I wondered why the fish would follow the performers, and later learned that it was because the performers carried fish food around their waists. These fish are quite greedy eaters. When planning a visit to Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park, it’s important to strategize how to enjoy the park and bring a change of clothes if you plan to play in the water. Although outdoor activities are limited during summer, it’s essential to take measures to avoid the heat. When taking photos, adhere to the park’s regulations and avoid using flash. The park’s operating hours are from 09:30 to 20:00 on weekdays (last admission at 19:30) and from 09:00 to 20:30 on peak days (last admission at 19:30). National medical staff: Until December 31, 2020, medical staff nationwide (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions) can enter the park for free with valid identification. All medical staff from Shanghai who supported Hubei: Medical staff from Shanghai who supported Hubei can process and activate a family annual card (for 3 people) at the park’s annual card center, allowing unlimited entry within one year from the date of activation. Please note that the above information is for reference only, and specific details should be confirmed with the park on the day of your visit. Service facilities: Parking lot: The Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park parking lot is priced at ¥50 per entry and is located at 200 Yinfei Road, Nanhui Xincheng Town, Pudong New Area, Shanghai, with approximately 1,000 parking spots. In addition to the park’s internal parking lot (200 Yinfei Road), there are three municipal supporting parking lots nearby, located at Lingang Avenue Parking Lot (near Lingang Avenue subway station), Port City New World Parking Lot (near Jasmine Road), and Xueronghua Road Parking Lot. Together, there are more than 3,000 parking spots available. Luggage storage: The luggage storage area is located to the right of the park’s main entrance, with a fee of ¥60 per large item and ¥50 per small item. Baby stroller rental: ¥60 per stroller per day, with a deposit of ¥300; single child stroller ¥70 per stroller per day, with a deposit of ¥200; double child stroller ¥90 per stroller per day, with a deposit of ¥200. The weight limit for vehicle riding standards is 10 kg for baby strollers, 25 kg for single child strollers, and 45 kg for double child strollers. Wheelchair rental: Free rental with a deposit of ¥300. Restrooms: There are multiple restrooms within the park, clearly marked. In conclusion, the visit to Haichang Ocean Park has come to an end.
In summary, it was truly an enriching day, having watched several theaters and experienced various attractions. Although there were a few that I didn’t have time to try, overall, I am very satisfied with this place. The ocean park is a place worth visiting with children; playing and learning at the same time is truly a great experience. Return

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