Century Park

On one of the Mom and Boys days off before home leave, we decided to check out what there was to do at Century Park.  Century Park is 140 hectares right in the Pudong-Jinqiao area, about 1 mile down the street from our apartment.  The boys and I were excited to find that they had bikes -- both the 2-wheel and 4-wheel variety -- for rent as well as paddle boats, an amusement park area with rides and a little roller coaster, and plenty of open space for playing frisbee and flying a kite.

First thing we did was rent one of the 4-wheel bikes to ride around for an hour.  There were 2 sets of pedals, so the boys alternated helping peddle and steer...though it was a stretch for Derek to reach, so most of the work was done by myself and Alex.

   

Next, we found a little Bonsai Tree farm.  The boys thought some of the trees weren't small enough to be part of the farm, but it was interesting to see all of the different sizes, shapes, and varieties of trees in the farm.
     

Our final stop at Century Park was at the Amusement Park area.  They had this elevated track around the entire outside of the Amusement Park, and the boys were excited to get the bird's eye view of the area.  We also went on the small rollercoaster...SO proud of Derek for going on it with us even though he was freaked out, and he found he even enjoyed it (except for bumping his head when we got off).
   
   

The paths in the park were quite empty when we were there, most likely since it was during the week.  As we drive by on the weekend, there are always lots of people there enjoying the biking, wide open green areas, and touch of nature in the middle of 20 million people.
     

With this being so close we can ride our bikes there, we look forward to another visit to try out the paddle boats...

and the adventure continues...