Chaoyang Park Part 1 (west)

Chaoyang Park in Beijing is not just any park.  It has amusement rides, a bathing beach, a lake, an island, and a shopping center.  It's amazing to say the least.  It's very green, with trees and willows surrounding the borders.  It was the venue spot for the 2008 beach volleyball olympic games.

I labeled this post "Part 1" because we went there on a day it was close to 100 degrees and quite frankly.... with a toddler and infant.... you just can't do half the stuff you think you can even when the weather is favorable.

We entered on the west side of the park so I'm going to just cover that area for this post.  Maybe someday soon I can do the other sides.  I'd love to get there at 6am when it opens so we can see everyone doing their morning exercises.

So when you enter, there are instantly places to start having fun.

For instance, a paint ball fight in the woods.

Tight-rope walking looked way tougher in person.  There's no way I could do it. 

There are really cool "air trails" you can take throughout this area.  It's like being in Nottingham Forest.  

Then immediately next door there are basketball courts?  They were packed, even in the heat.

With the park being so large, there are multiple means of transportation.  Bikes, scooters, boats, and buggies are just to name a few.  You can rent them yourselves, or hire someone to tote you around.  You can rent a bike for 1-6 people.

I really wanted to get one of these and go all around the park to see everything.  I think when the in-laws get here we will have to do this for sure.  I can't wait to see all 6 of us on one.  

Perhaps the boys can pedal the girls, too.

The park is beautiful, with a lot of green everywhere.  But you want to remember your bug spray.  Even in the middle of the day, the mosquitos were out in full force.  

Onto the rides.  This place has tons of rides.  Big ones, small ones, air ones, water ones, land ones... you name it.  You have to go to a ticket booth to get a ticket for the specific ride you want.  I forgot to mention, it cost 5RMB to get into the park.  Right now, that's about $0.79.  That right, 79 cents will get an adult into the part.  The kids were free.  But you do have to pay for each individual ride.  This actually was to our benefit, since only one child went on the rides and we got away with her only riding about four the entire time we were there. Each ride costs a different amount, which is annoying when buying a ticket.  Overall, I think we spent (maybe) $20 for the day.  Not too bad.

Air rides.

Land rides.  This was very expensive.  It cost about $8 for two tickets.

Water rides.

And they really don't enforce any safety measures here in China.  For instance, when we were on the merry-go-round, the man running the ride was smoking a cigarette and ashing all over the place.  Nice fire/burn hazard, I'm sure.

Oh yeah, and height requirements.....

They are a joke.  Every ride we went on Bianca was too small for, but nobody cared.  They even allowed her to go alone if we would allow it.

I have to insert this pic.  I miss you, Atlanta.  Lauri, this is for you!  And before you ask, NO, it doesn't taste the same here.

There's an awesome children's play area, too.  It was relatively cheap and there's a sand pit, huge play house, and trampoline.  It's all nicely shaded, too.  

When we were sitting, watching our daughter play, we noticed a nasty smell.  I turned only to see they were spraying fertilizer or pesticide or something arsenic right behind us.  Nice.  Can you imagine in the States - spraying chemicals like that while all these children are playing?  Never would happen!  There's another thing that would never happen in the States.....

This boy just finished his business before I could get the camera ready in time.  But you can see what occurred.  Kid had to go, momma held him over the garbage can and the business was complete.  Nice.  

And I'm know fashion mistakes like this happen all the time in the States, but I couldn't help myself.

(warning: vision may be blinded due to brightness)

This is one area that is full in the mornings, I'm sure.  You see these all over Beijing.  They are like non-electric treadmills.

More to come soon.  This week is crazy!  We have 19 days until we move into our "permanent" HOUSE in Beijing (not that I'm counting the days or anything....).  We can't wait.