Shanghai Family Outing - Autumn Travel Guide

Duration: 3 days, Time: November, Cost per person: 3000 yuan. Who: Parent-child, Mode of travel: Self-driving, Free travel. The author visited these places: Shanghai Jing’an Sculpture Park, Shikumen, Wu Kang Road, The Bund, Lujiazui. Published on 2020-11-27 15:11. They said, ‘You’re already thirty.’ I said, ‘Thirty is just the beginning.’ Hi, I’m the restless little meatball, a woman who doesn’t want to be defined by age. I am a native of Shanghai. At 27, I married Lao Xue for love. We both have stable incomes and live a carefree life without the pressure of a mortgage. We enjoy shopping, watching movies, and drinking afternoon tea, sticking to our two-person world. Until one day, a little boy suddenly appeared in our lives, breaking our two-person world. I became a mother overnight, and Lao Xue became a father. Thus, our lives changed dramatically, and our second life began. Our sleep time became shorter, and the concept of sleeping in became a thing of the past. Our free time decreased, as we revolved around this little one 24/7. Our need for a car increased, as weekly outings with the child became a necessity. Our living space shrank, as the original study was transformed into his little nest. As you can see, with the change in our identities, our living needs also changed continuously. In fact, when it was just Lao Xue and me, we didn’t have a strong need for a car. In a big city like Shanghai, whether it’s the subway or ride-hailing services, all travel issues can be easily solved, and we are spared the trouble of parking difficulties. The house didn’t need to be big, just enough to live in. But since we had a baby, the car became a necessity, and we wished for a larger house. So we bought a car, renovated the house, hoping to provide a better environment for our little one. Our travel radius also expanded on our journey of taking the child out. Since then, Lao Xue and I’s romantic weekend trips turned into warm family trips. Speaking of family travel, there are many places to go in Shanghai, from museums to amusement parks, from the city to the suburbs, each weekend can be arranged full. The places I like to take my baby to must be suitable for both adults and children, otherwise, how can it be called family travel? Only when both parties find their interest points can we make the most of the weekend. So, taking advantage of the crisp autumn in November, I found some classic and interesting routes, and with my little mythical beast, we embarked on a two-day and one-night family trip.
Shanghai, a city adored by children for its diverse museums, boasts institutions covering everything from natural history to culture, technology, and daily life, each with its own unique charm. However, if I had to recommend one that is perfect for a family visit, it would undoubtedly be the Shanghai Natural Museum! This museum is a favorite among Shanghai’s children due to its realistic animal specimens and numerous interactive experiences. My partner and I both enjoy visiting museums, and we had already quietly checked this one off our list before having children. Now, we look forward to exploring the Jurassic era and the mysteries of origins with our child, immersing ourselves in the world’s diverse and colorful life forms. We drove through the city streets and arrived at the Shanghai Natural Museum, located in the city center. The museum does not have parking facilities, so it is recommended to park in the shopping mall across the street. After parking, we entered the Shanghai Natural Museum and used our pre-purchased tickets online, which allowed us entry with our ID cards. The Shanghai Natural Museum is a branch of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum and one of China’s largest natural museums. The old museum, with a history of 50 years, closed its doors in 2014. The current Shanghai Natural Museum is situated within the Jing’an Sculpture Park, housing over 290,000 specimens, making it the most detailed, comprehensive, and diverse natural museum I have ever visited. Despite its high praise, the entrance fee is only 30 yuan, truly a king of cost-performance. Avoid visiting on Mondays as the museum is closed. The museum’s opening exhibit, ‘The Mystery of Origins,’ succinctly and cleverly traces the human exploration of the universe and the origins of life through the display and principles of astronomical telescopes. Following the ramp, one arrives at the ‘River of Life’ exhibit, one of the children’s favorites. This area showcases both extinct creatures from the Cretaceous period and current biological stars: dinosaurs that suffered a devastating extinction, ancient reptiles like turtles, and amphibians such as lizards and salamanders. The animal specimens are incredibly lifelike, with electronic displays next to each one, bringing these creatures to life. Nature is like an arena where, after millions of years of evolution, each species has developed its own unique survival strategies. Their different foraging tactics and reproductive strategies are the two main weapons for the continuation of their populations. While our child may not yet understand these principles, the mere sight of so many fascinating creatures is already captivating. When visiting the Africa Pavilion, do not miss the film screenings featuring various African wildlife and baobab trees, realistically standing on the African savannah. As the film begins, it feels as if you are truly on the savannah, with zebras, giraffes, lions, and hyenas, running against the wind, experiencing the momentum of the grasslands.

There are many exhibition halls in the entire Shanghai Natural History Museum. If you take your time to look around, you can spend a whole day. My baby is still young, so he can only have a superficial understanding and cannot explore in depth. Therefore, a morning is sufficient. After coming out of the museum, it is Jing’an Sculpture Park. It is the only specialized sculpture park in downtown Shanghai and an open urban park. Every cherry blossom season, the cherry blossom corridor here always attracts many people. Across the sculpture park, there is a restaurant on the opposite side of the road that specializes in crab roe noodles. In autumn in Shanghai, it is the season when crabs are fat and full of roe. Shanghainese love noodles very much. At this time, having a bowl of seasonal crab roe noodles and putting both ‘crab’ and ‘noodles’, two treasures, into the bowl at the same time is really a perfect thing. The noodle restaurant is not large. A bowl costs 88 yuan. It is golden and fragrant. Pour the crab roe into the noodles all at once. Pick up a mouthful of noodles and roll them in the crab roe. Each noodle is evenly coated with crab roe, rich and tender. The amusement park with the most old Shanghai charm. After having enough to eat and drink, take the baby to the second stop, Shanghai Great World! Get into the car, adjust the seat, and get ready to go! Directly navigate by voice to ‘Shanghai Great World’ and you can arrive. Shanghai Great World is a famous amusement center in Shanghai. It is an iconic building of old Shanghai. After I grew up, it was closed for business for 14 years. After being renovated, it officially opened. This is full of childhood memories of little Shanghainese. Change clothes and come and perform old Shanghai stories together! If you want children to understand old Shanghai, the Great World is a very good place. Shanghai Great World has four floors and can be directly reached by elevator, so there is no need to worry about pushing a stroller. What you see first at the entrance on the first floor is the super retro distorting mirror! Although the distorting mirrors now have all been replaced with new outfits, they are still full of memories. And for children now, they are still their favorites. In the corridor on the second floor, there are lanterns full of intangible cultural heritage elements hanging, which are very suitable for taking pictures. At the other end of the corridor is a whole glass wall composed of cartoon dolls, as well as various handicrafts such as tie-dye and sand painting. Babies can try making them by hand. On the third floor, the rest area here is also composed of tables and chairs made of flower drums. They can be used for rest and also allow children to knock on them with a ‘dong dong dong’. The four intangible cultural heritage-themed areas are full of Chinese style and are super suitable for taking pictures and checking in. The fourth floor is my favorite. The content is very rich. It is strongly recommended to start from the fourth floor and go down. The 1978 old Shanghai style block restores old Shanghai of that era. The long trolleybus, public telephone booth, Shikumen alley, etc. are full of memories. Sharing stories of our era with children is also a very interesting thing. This place is very suitable for taking retro photos with a sense of age. So in terms of clothing selection, cheongsam or retro-style clothing will be very suitable.
The Fantastic Kaleidoscope is like an enlarged kaleidoscope. Walking inside is like entering a magical space. At the site, in addition to watching shadow play performances, you can also buy shadow puppets. Sugar blowing, dough figurines, and sugar painting. There are many interesting interactions of intangible cultural heritages, all of which are memories of our childhood. One can’t help but sigh at the exquisite craftsmanship of artisans. The most beautiful street in autumn in Shanghai. October in Shanghai is the most comfortable season of the year. There is a hint of autumn in the air. The warm sunlight and fresh air. We want to take advantage of the afterglow of the setting sun and take our baby to stroll along the most beautiful street in autumn and step on the autumn colors full of fallen leaves. So we drove in the direction of Wukang Road. When taking the child out, we are always taking pictures non-stop. The battery of the mobile phone is always used up very quickly. Fortunately, there is a wireless charging device in the car. After getting in the car, just put the phone down and it will charge by itself. It’s super convenient. Driving on the urban roads of Shanghai, a gentle lullaby of the baby is heard in the car. In the quiet car, isolated from the disturbances of the outside world, let the baby take a short nap. If this city of Shanghai entrusts its own brilliance to the Bund and Lujiazui, then it hides its own tenderness and delicacy in the deep courtyards of Western-style houses and alleyways. And Wukang Road is like such an un-fading Shanghai dream. Only by coming here and walking around can you see the charming Shanghai. Quiet, elegant, with a touch of the vicissitudes of time. In November, the plane trees on Wukang Road gradually turn yellow. Passing by those European-style buildings facing the street, they gradually fall with the breeze. There are many boutique shops and cafes on Wukang Road, hidden in these old Western-style houses. The popular ice cream of WIFY is the baby’s favorite. The signature sea salt caramel flavored ice cream is rich in taste. Every time we come, there is an endless stream of people coming to check in. Holding the ice cream, in front of the old Western-style house and under the shade of a tree, we bask in this ice cream that is popular on Moments. And LOKAL next to it is also a famous western restaurant on Wukang Road. Brunch and afternoon tea are their main features. We arrived late, but it didn’t prevent us from tasting delicious food. Sitting outdoors and enjoying the last trace of sunshine’s affection, we end our day’s journey. The most suitable outdoor paradise for taking kids out. The next day, we went to a large outdoor parent-child paradise, JEGOPLAY WOOBOO Parent-Child Park. Since having a baby, we have visited large and small amusement parks all over Shanghai. But this one has always been in my collection treasure book. I just want to choose a day with clear autumn skies and have a great time. WOOBOO is a large new outdoor parent-child paradise opened in Shanghai this year. There are many amusement parks in Shanghai, but there are really not many that focus on outdoor parent-child activities and are so large in scale.
It is adjacent to Shanghai Disneyland and Yi Ou Lai. Transfer from Luoshan Road viaduct to Outer Ring Expressway. With a step on the accelerator, there is full power. It can be reached in nearly an hour’s drive. Along the way, the baby is not bored either. From time to time, he talks to Little WEY. ‘Little V, open the panoramic sunroof. Little V, turn off the air conditioner. Little V…’ Little V can do many things. After chatting, he can also watch an animation on the in-car iQiyi. Every time I’m afraid he won’t get out of the car. Those who like the outdoors are strongly advised to bring tents, strollers, change into comfortable clothes, bring spare clothes for the baby, and prepare some delicious food for an outdoor parent-child outing. Every time I want to go outdoors to play, I always have to bring a lot of things. In the past, it was all up to Lao Xue to do the hard work. Now with a car, it saves a lot of effort. Every time the trunk is filled to the brim. With the induction electric tailgate, holding big and small bags of things, let’s go into the park and play! It takes about 5 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the entrance of the scenic area. Tickets are bought online in advance. For those who like sunshine, picnics, or live nearby, it is strongly recommended to buy the annual card of this place. Coming twice is worth the ticket price. Entering the park, one is immediately impressed. The entire park creates various dreams for children. With bright colors and fresh and lovely cartoon animal shapes, it seems like coming to a microcosm. Climb up the colorful castle, ride on the neck of a giraffe, and jump from one cute rabbit to another. It is dreamy and interesting. Tuwowow Paradise is mainly divided into three areas: Tu Bao Kingdom, Growth World, and Creation Bay. Opposite the main entrance is the Growth World. It is like coming to a small castle. It has a very nice name called Sky Castle. Climbing to the highest point, one can be closer to the sky. In this Growth World, there are many amusement projects that are rare in Shanghai and even in the country. There are super-long zip lines, comprehensive tower combinations, etc. It is simply a world for children. Next to the Growth World is a large lavender flower sea. It’s a pity that the lavender blooming season has passed. Fortunately, there are always different surprises in Tuwowow Paradise. Even without lavender, there are also patches of verbena and rose gardens, adding a brilliant touch to this autumn. Coming out of the Growth World, opposite is Tu Bao Kingdom. Just listening to the name, Tu Bao Kingdom feels cute and lovely. This is a play area suitable for young children. It also has slides, climbing, and slides, none missing. In addition to these, swings, sand digging, climbing, racing, cable sliding, go-karts, slides, etc. are also concentrated in this area. The most conspicuous thing in Tu Bao Kingdom is those internet-famous rabbits in the Tu Bao Fort area. The macaron-colored rabbit castle shape is full of fairy-tale charm. Underneath is soft sand. The child shuttles inside the rabbit and can also slide down from a big carrot. So lovely.
In addition to these few internet-famous rabbits, there are different small animals in each theme area. Giraffes and caterpillars all attract children to this colorful fairy tale world. Climbing up by ropes and then sliding down, they can play for half a day. In Tuwowowo, slides and sand are probably the most abundant things. In almost every play area, there will be such facilities. Therefore, even though there are many people in the entire park, they are diverted to various play areas and it doesn’t feel very crowded. In addition to these climbing areas, the arena is also a great place for interaction with parents. Here there are bicycles and bumper cars, all for free. Different from ordinary parks, in addition to picnicking, the large lawn here also has various toys such as swings and internet-famous pin art. Parents can rest while enjoying the warm sunshine and accompany their children to play. In short, here, children can explore and discover the secrets of dinosaur remains; feel the magical musical fountain, enter a fairy tale world, and spend happy time with mom and dad. When tired from playing, they can also find suitable food experiences on the lawn or in the cute rabbit’s home. Someone asked, ‘This little boy has disrupted your original life. Do you regret it?’ I smiled. Although being a mother is very tiring. Fortunately, his slight smile can melt all troubles. Thinking of giving him more space and taking him to see a bigger world. Fortunately, it is because of you that my life after thirty becomes more wonderful.

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