and many are life-size. The Pyramids, Great Wall, Eiffel Tower,
Colosseum – after a day here your children will feel as if they’ve
travelled the world. The average visit lasts half a day.
Shenzhen Amusement Park 欢乐谷 (huān lè gǔ), also
referred to as Happy Kingdom or Happy Valley, is a 15-minute
taxi ride from Lo Wu station. Suitable for over-eights, this theme
park has rides, rides and more rides, and is equivalent to a
Chinese Disneyland. The park gets very crowded, especially at
weekends and during China’s holidays.
Evergreen Resort 青青世界 (qīng qīng shì jiè) is absolutely
worth the 35-minute trip from Lo Wu station. This park is a
botanical garden, nature reserve, aquarium, forest, organic farm
and playground all rolled into one. There are a lot of interesting
activities for young children, from crossing ponds and lakes on
rope bridges and visiting a rainforest, to learning about plants
and aquatic life. The park has two restaurants and one hotel.
Allow a day trip or a weekend visit.
Evergreen
Resort
Yangshuo
Yangshuo is a town few outside China had heard of until
Lonely Planet featured it in its guidebooks. Located in Guangxi
Province, it’s about an hour’s car drive from Guilin. While the
Guilin landscape is traditionally admired by Chinese people
and honoured in Chinese paintings, the city itself has become
industrialised. However, Yangshuo, only a short distance away,
is a total throwback in time.
The influx of backpackers means there are guesthouses
run by both locals and foreigners. And everyone speaks some
English. The little town fulfills the Western fantasy of what China
should look like: traditional buildings, beautiful mountains and
lakes, rice paddies, farmers in straw hats, minority villages and
sampans floating along the Li River.
Think of this as a back-to-nature trip – kids can go cycling
around the villages (rent shared bikes for kids under four) walk
to local markets and take a raft trip on the river. The guide will
even cook on the raft. There are many different kinds of trips –
book in advance with your hotel.
If you head to Guilin for the day, there are caves to explore,
but some may not be suitable for the under-fives. Two to three
days is about the right amount of time to spend in Yangshuo.
Chengdu
Located in western Sichuan Province, Chengdu is a two-and-a-
half hour flight from Hong Kong. As the geographic beginning
of the southern Silk Route and the first place where paper
currency was traded, Chengdu has a 2,400-year history. Now
it is famous for its handicrafts, silk embroideries and giant
pandas. In fact, the world’s only giant panda breeding and
research facility is based here. Sichuan Province is the same
size as France, and Chengdu is the most populous city in this
huge province. Famous for its flat plains and surrounded by
mountains, locals call it the “bucket”.
58
www.playtimes.com.hk
Guilin
Ermei
Mountain
Ermei
Mountain