Having had my practice run on the metro the day before I decided to get up a little earlier and research a couple of other parks for a possible visit later in the day.
I had further to go this time so I was up for the first train of the day (around 6.20 in the morning).
First stop was the Cultural Palace Amusement Park
Here's the street level map in the station with the station shown in red, and the park running to the north-east. This made it easy to know what exit to take.
5 minutes later and I was in the park and could confirm that they had a coaster. So this would definitely be revisited in the afternoon.
At 7 in the morning the park was open to walk around but there were no staff in to operate anything.
As with most parks in China there's a mixture of stunning scenery, recreational space, and the parks. A lot of them as with this one had a lake as a centre piece.
Shenzhen downtown.
From the cultural park I decided to walk at street level to the Children's park. It was just 30 minutes or so away...if you know where you're going. I only knew the rough direction and did end up in some dead-ends but got to see the city along the way so all good.
I eventually made it to the furthest entrance to the park.
In China a lot of the parks are used properly for morning recreation with communities all out doing Tai Chi, dancing etc. This is probably my biggest like in Asian countries and I always try to get out in the morning to see this. I'm also reminded of the time I was asked to join in with some old women in Korea and the time we stumbled upon a morning Kendo class in Japan and the old guys with their sticks wanted us to join in.
Now in taking these pictures I inadvertently set myself up for some confrontation later on in the trip. I'd falsely assumed that the children's park I was looking for was behind the red gate, which was firmly locked. However I hadn't appreciated that the rides were behind the women in the top picture. More on this later.
Having taken over an hour to reach the park I was way off my pace and needed to head back to the group who were soon going to be on the way to their next park.
The proper entrance to the park is on the south side of the park.
If you walk along a main road you should eventually come across signs for the nearest metro station.
Liking the idea of trying to organise people to queue for the metro trains. It's a shame they're ignored and people just pile in.
The emergency brake in the train where its not made clear exactly what the punishment would be. Heading back I found myself caught up in the Shenzhen rush hour and as I was pouring with sweat I was reluctant to step into a crowded train. I might as well have just thrown wet sponges in I was that bad. But unlike London where 1 in 3 trains is often empty, every single one was full so I had no choice but to get in.
Fortunately it wasn't as bad as this, which was taken in Beijing.
I eventually make it back with 5 minutes to spare, no time for breakfast and I get to catch an old guy with a more novel way to commute.
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