2-Day Shanghai Sun Island Getaway for Families

**Duration and Cost:** Our weekend getaway spanned two delightful days in the month of June, with each participant enjoying the […]

**Duration and Cost:**
Our weekend getaway spanned two delightful days in the month of June, with each participant enjoying the experience for a reasonable cost of 2000 yuan per person.

**Group and Activities:**
This was a parent-child adventure, filled with gourmet food, photography, independent travel, embracing a petty bourgeoisie lifestyle, and making the most of a weekend outing.

**Destination:**
The author, captivated by the allure of Shanghai Sun Island, decided to visit the Shanghai Sun Island Vanilla Garden, and the trip was documented in a post published on July 2, 2021, at 23:59.

**Family Time:**
Childhood is fleeting, and the author cherishes every moment spent with their child. This family outing was a two-day, one-night escape, sparked by the enchanting images of Shanghai Sun Island that appeared on the author’s phone.

**Accommodation:**
The family stayed at the Explorer Family Villa in Shanghai Sun Island Resort Hotel, Zhujiajiao. This accommodation is highly recommended for groups of families traveling together. With its Nordic cabin aesthetic, complete with white walls and wood-grained roofs, it feels like a fairy tale come to life.

**Amenities and Layout:**
Each villa boasts 190 square meters of spacious living, featuring a large living room connected to a dining area, both dominated by white and wood grain colors for a warm and clean appearance. The living room is enhanced with a tall giraffe and deer benches, adding a playful touch. A small courtyard outside is perfect for afternoon tea or sunset chats.

The dining room houses a modern, six-person marble long table, conveniently facing the children’s play area, which features a semicircular hollow design for direct observation of the children at play. The children’s play area is a hidden gem within the villa, equipped with a rotating slide, a three-story high-elasticity climbing net, a Lego toy wall, a magic magnet wall, and colorful brand cartoon dolls.

**Living Spaces:**
The villa is designed with three rooms and three bathrooms, catering to diverse needs with one large bed room and one tatami room. The room layout is lively and comfortable, with Nordic elements such as elk, geometric patterns, and bright colors that are not overly vivid.

**Bedrooms and Bathrooms:**
The large bed room on the second floor is vibrant and youthful, equipped with both a shower room and a bathtub, featuring a dry-wet separation design that makes the space appear larger. The tatami room is a duplex connected to a stargazing attic on the third floor, offering the largest space with blue bathrobes specially prepared for children.

**Stargazing and Entertainment:**
The third floor is equipped with a telescope for stargazing and constellation viewing at night, or one can project a movie for a cozy viewing experience. The multi-level glass railing offers an immediate view, enhancing the sense of space. Secret compartments at the corners of the staircase resemble tree hollows, perfect for children to play hide-and-seek.

**Farm Animal Encounters:**
The entertainment section is a hit, especially with children who love farm animals. Little Anmei finds joy in mimicking the sounds of various animals, and the small farm with piglets, lambs, peacocks, and Angora giant rabbits is the perfect place for such encounters.

**Operating Hours:**
The farm is open Sunday through Thursday from 09:30 to 16:30, and on Fridays and Saturdays from 09:30 to 18:30.

**Cartoon Silicone Animal Figures:**
The cartoon silicone animal figures by the wall are a favorite of Anmei, who enjoys taking turns riding them, whether they are a small dinosaur, deer, or cat.**Welcome to Our Little Farm Adventure!**

### Pet Pigs: The Charming Masters

These little pet pigs are the masters of the small farm, and their presence is ubiquitous. They wander around, following you for food, truly adorable. The other master of the farm is likely the goat, which extends its little head and calls out ‘baa’ whenever it sees someone approaching, asking visitors for food. The piglets and lambs are so enthusiastic that they keep sniffing at us with their noses, rooting around, probably thinking we have food here and are asking for it. When they see we don’t, they turn and run away. Anmei always wants to touch the piglets but is also a bit scared. She reaches out to try, but when the piglet turns its head, she gets scared and hides in my arms. Here, children can get close to small animals, which is rare for those growing up in cities. They usually only get to see piglets and lambs outdoors, on farms.

### Daily Life on the Farm

In the small farm’s pasture, the bored piglets spend their daily lives amusing tourists, racing, and their ever-constant eating and sleeping, which is quite a comfortable existence. There are exciting pig races to participate in and bet on every day, with prizes for those who guess correctly. The piglets run hard, their daily food not in vain, which one will win? Come and cheer for your favorite piglet!

### Opening Hours

– **Monday-Thursday**: 10:30-11:00, 13:30-14:00
– **Friday-Sunday**: 10:30-11:00, 13:30-14:00, 15:30-16:00
*Subject to change due to weather and other objective factors, staff will release the lambs from their pens at scheduled times, allowing them to forage freely. This is when children can get close to the lambs. You can buy feed (hay) to feed the lambs, and with a bag of feed, you become the object of the lambs’ admiration.

### Feeding the Animals

It is recommended not to bring your own food to feed small animals. They have fixed food, which is conducive to their healthy growth. In the small farm, there are also some other play facilities. Anmei likes slides very much. As soon as she sees a slide, her eyes light up and she shouts “slide” and runs towards the slide. She won’t come down until she plays it ten times. Unexpectedly, such a small slide brings her so much joy.

### The Four Seasons Cute DIY Handicraft Workshop

The Four Seasons Cute DIY Handicraft Workshop will launch DIY classes with different themes: “Making animal biscuits, festival-themed handicrafts, traditional seasonal pastries…” This time, Anmei comes to experience making DIY biscuits. She can make biscuits in her favorite shapes by herself. The staff will also demonstrate and explain the production process on site. Use your imagination and make it by hand to cultivate children’s concentration and creativity while playing. After making it, bake it and then you can eat it. Isn’t it more delicious to eat biscuits made by yourself?

### Workshop Hours

– **Sunday – Thursday**: 09:30 – 15:30
– **Friday – Saturday**: 09:30 – 17:30

Anmei is learning to roll out the dough and use molds to print out biscuits in her favorite shapes seriously. She is very quiet and focused. I almost believe that you are not a naughty baby at ordinary times.

### Beach Swimming Pool

If I don’t say it, can you tell that Anmei is here to play in the swimming pool for the first time? This little girl is not afraid of water at all. On the contrary, she is extremely happy. She keeps playing until the sun sets and is reluctant to leave at all. This private beach hidden in the 2,500-mu island scenery of Shanghai has fashionable play facilities such as wave pools, rainbow slides, and Zorb balls. You can also engage in various entertainment projects such as outdoor beach volleyball at the beach swimming pool.

### Pool Hours

– **June & September**: 09:00 – 16:30 (Monday to Thursday), 09:00 – 18:30 (Friday to Sunday)
– **July & August**: 09:00 – 18:30 (Monday to Thursday), 09:00 – 20:30 (Friday to Sunday)

Although she still refuses to step on the sand and always wants to be held, as soon as she touches the water, she runs away. She has a great time playing on the inflatable mat on the water. She runs here and there, drills here and there. Even if she falls into the water, she isThere are also slides suitable for older children. It is more exciting and fun. Brave children, come and challenge it.

There is a beach supply station by the beach, selling drinks, snacks and swimming rings. If you don’t bring them, you can also buy them here. Colorful swimming rings are truly the colors of summer.

The entertainment center, which is about to officially open to the public, has already been experienced by Anmei on behalf of all the children, and it is really fun. The play projects themed around a construction site allow children to be little construction workers here. Put on the safety helmet, wear the yellow vest, and start working! Place the bricks in the dump truck, transport the bricks, and start building houses! Anmei is still a bit young, and the wheelbarrow is wobbly and not yet stable, but she is trying hard to maintain balance. After moving the bricks, you can start building houses, one by one, just like stacking blocks, which is really interesting. There are also various construction vehicles that can be driven here. Anmei drove the excavator and the tractor in turn, and today you are the boss of the construction site! Switch from one vehicle to another, and you can drive any vehicle on the construction site. The most impressive here is the remote-controlled excavator. There are many control desks surrounding it, controlling the excavator inside the fence, transporting sand. This very realistic experience allows children to control the handle and buttons in their hands to make the excavator move and dig sand. Although Anmei is still playing in a confused way, this project is really good and worth experiencing. Anmei played from one control desk to another, full of curiosity about everything.

On the other side of the entertainment center, there are bumper cars that children all love. Young children can be taken by adults, and older children can drive by themselves. The speed is very slow, and it is very safe for children to drive. Every car must be sat in, and this round car is very cute.

Shanghai Sun Island Equestrian Club
There is also an equestrian club on Shanghai Sun Island, which is suitable for older children. Although Anmei has been shouting to ‘ride a horse,’ she can only watch from afar, so grow up quickly and come back to learn horse riding then! The Shanghai Sun Island Equestrian Club was established in 1997, with high-quality hardware facilities, professional horse protection, and a superb coaching team. In 2018, after a comprehensive upgrade and renovation, the Sun Island Shanghai Equestrian Club was newly unveiled, with a newly built 30 x 60-meter indoor training ground. The equestrian club now has more than 60 fine horses, currently has 5 international standard stables, including a saddle room, horse warm water shower room, horse shoeing room, horse medical room, horse infrared therapy area, and saddle preparation area, and other horse welfare facilities. Older children can come to a horse-riding experience before deciding whether to learn horse riding. The coach will lead the horse and take you around to feel the experience on horseback.

Food Chapter
Sunshine Chinese Restaurant is located in the main building of the hotel lobby, built on an open-air platform with a full glass sunroom, spacious and bright, mainly featuring Shanghai-style local dishes. The outdoor terrace is adjacent to the flower and grass garden, with a pleasant view. The interior of the restaurant is mainly wooden dining tables, with a new Chinese simplicity. Business hours: 11:00-14:00 (lunch) 17:00-21:00 (dinner). The dishes are mostly local dishes. We ordered the tender boiled chicken, fragrant and delicious egg yolk tofu, and the rice-accompanying sour soup beef, pickled vegetable shredded pork noodles, and a large bowl of white fungus soup. The food is delicious and satisfying.

Breakfast can be had at the Changmao buffet restaurant, located on the second floor of the hotel lobby. You can enjoy the beautiful scenery while tasting a rich breakfast. The breakfast is very rich, combining Chinese and Western styles, with a variety of types. Operating Hours: 07:00-10:00.

Sun Island is truly an ideal spot for family outings with children. It offers everything from dining to accommodation to entertainment. Children will find endless joy here. Although the trip spans only a day and a night, it is crucial that children have a happy weekend here, which is more important than anything else!