Butterflies, beer, bands promise maximum fun for National Day
Students from the University of Melbourne play on a Huangpu River sightseeing cruise yesterday with counterparts from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Concerts and other musical events will take place every day during the holiday.
Tourist attractions and parks across Shanghai have prepared events ranging from flower shows to food and beer festivals for the National Day holiday which begins on Monday.
Chenshan Botanical Garden in Songjiang District has a flower and fruit exhibition featuring sunflowers, pumpkins, chillies and various fruits between today and October 21.
There are eight themed attractions including an autumn feast, chilli kingdom and sunflower maze.
Visitors will find a giant pumpkin weighing 140 kilograms, and some of the world’s hottest chillis.
Colorful vegetables will create a beautiful garden, while the 700-square-meter sunflower maze will give visitors a fun experience.
There will be games based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, popular science classes, vegetable picking, a chilli tasting competition and music by bands from home and abroad.
An urban forest carnival and forest beer festival will be held from today until October 7, the last day of the holiday, at Gongqing Forest Park in Yangpu District.
Nearly 50 types of beer from Belgium, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and the Czech Republic will be served, together with a variety of foods.
Beer-themed cultural activities will allow visitors to learn the history of beer.
Drinking competitions will be held, and performances of jazz, rock, magic, street dance and rap will add to the fun.
Shanghai Botanical Garden in Xuhui District has a monthlong autumn flower show from October 1 featuring chrysanthemum courtyards, a bonsai display, and items made from fallen leaves and withered branches.
A highlight will be a pink muhly grass field covering more than 2,000 square meters.
A butterfly exhibition at Shanghai Zoo in Changning District today will feature around 80,000 captive bred butterflies of about 30 species due to be released the following month. Accompanying photographic exhibition and talks will provided additional lepidopteral information.
A huge magic mirror on the 88th-floor observatory of Shanghai’s Jinmao Tower in the Pudong New Area will be the venue for a magic show through October 7, while a mask carnival with a parade and castle dance performances will be held at the Andersen Paradise in Yangpu.
A wine festival with competitions and forums is under way at the North Bund.
A fun tour will be held at Paotaiwan Wetland Forest Park in Baoshan District between October 1 and 3, inviting visitors to explore the legendary stories of the Wusongkou terminal port via games.
Wood carving activities will be held at the Shanghai Wood Culture Exposition Park.
Jinshan Seafood Culture Festival is inviting visitors to sink their teeth into seafood banquets and take part in photography competitions at Jinshanzui Fishing Village, the city’s only remaining fishing village.
Tourist discounts
A heavily discounted ticket package to 15 attractions in the Yangtze River Delta went on sale yesterday.
Tourists can visit the attractions for a fifth of the cost of buying an individual ticket to each one.
The delta area attracted more than 30 million visitors in 2017.
Three of Shanghai’s forest parks are included in the package: Binhai Forest Park on the city’s eastern coast, Dongping National Forest Park and Mingzhu Lake Park on Chongming Island.
Admission to the 15 sites totals 979 yuan (US$142), but the ticket combo is only 199 yuan. It is available on http://www.lanhoo.cc/ and is valid until December 30, 2019.
