Shanghu Park

Day 2 would see us heading out of the Shanghai into the area north of the city with a number of parks where we'd probably be the first enthusiasts to visit. That's quite a big deal these days. The first park which was so far that we got a bit lost on the way to, was Shanghu Park.

This is a huge recreational space famous for having an old politician fish here. I doubt telling tourists that John Major once fished in a lake would work in the UK, and our guide was a bit cynical regarding the accuracy of the story as it occurred so far back that there's no evidence to back up the claim. Background story aside the place is stunning.

The park consists of a number of island on a large lake surrounded by mountains.A truly beautiful location for a morning walk, and walk we did.

That'll be the politician then. Note the bridge that has clear gaps between the concrete sections. Is this a recreational garden or an assault course?

There are a small number of museums telling the back story to the park. None of it is translated though, but it's good to look at.

This beetle was the size of my fist. Ok I'm exaggerating; it was bigger than that.

This place was so pretty and at times it was easy to forget that we were here for an amusement park.

Finally we found a sign that pointed the way to the park and shortly after we began to hear dance music, an aural guide to the rides perhaps?

Soon after we found the rides.

and there was a coaster to greet us, another jungle mouse.

These ones came with accessories. Each car had a soft toy strapped inside. Whether this was for purely aesthetic reasons or to protect the ribs I wasn't sure.

The ride was pretty decent actually, and whilst I joke about how all you see in China is the same rides everywhere, I do honestly like these rides, and think there really ought to be more of them. Strapping a soft toy to the ride should be done everywhere too.

The other rides looked fairly new, and like Gucun park there was no evidence of anyone else coming here for the rides. So even if this hobby is a bit bonkers at least we're doing our bit to ensure these guys earn a living wage.

Having done the ride we made our way back around to the exit and rather than double back to walk past stuff we'd already seen we continued on to close the loop.You could easily spend more than an hour doing the lap.

They have big beetles here, this one was the size of a golf ball, ok I'm exaggerating, that's a football. (actually it was in the urinal and that's just a bleach block, which the bug clearly likes)

So this was actually a great way to start the day, a wonderful park with a coaster. The park is actually famous for its peony plants so if you come during flowering season its supposedly quite stunning.

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