Intrepid junior reporter Naomi Martin (1.3m) picks Beijing’s best rides for littler kids
Hi! My name is Naomi Xiali Martin. I am from America, and came to Beijing about five months ago. I’m 8 years old and I love amusement park rides because they can make you feel like you are in space or on a magical swing or something! tbjkids magazine asked me to visit four different amusement parks in Beijing and test out the rides without height restrictions. Here’s what I found out.
The first place I went to was Happy Valley Amusement Park (RMB 160, RMB 80/kids under 1.2m). It was my favorite. The park was gigantic and most rides were for older kids but there were lots of things for smaller kids in the Ant Kingdom (get here by taking the paths that lead to the left from the main entrance of the park). My favorite was the Frog Hopper. On this ride, you sit in a row of seven seats. Once you’re buckled in, the ride rises up about 20ft and then drops quickly. It goes up and down 20 times! I liked this ride because l like to get lots of butterflies in my tummy. You don’t have to pay for each ride, so my sister Nani and I went on this one about 15 times in a row. We screamed the whole time.
The other thing at Happy Valley that was really fun was the huge playhouse inside the Ant Palace (the first building on your left as you enter the Ant Kingdom) that was three stories high. There were hundreds of colorful soft balls that you could shoot at people, even people you didn’t know. There were lots of families having a blast! My sister and I had an awesome time shooting everyone with the cannons. There was also a slide that went all the way from the second story to the first. It was fast and I did somersaults and back flips on it.
The second amusement park I visited was the Shijingshan Amusement Park. My favorite rides were the Spinning Coaster (RMB 15) and the Shoot the Chute (RMB 15). The Spinning Coaster is a roller coaster whose cars also spin, so I was double happy. Sometimes it feels like you are going backwards. Shoot the Chute is a water ride: you sit in a log boat that slides down big hills. You get really wet when you reach the bottom because it makes a big splash. My face got wet and it was really cold. Brrr! Be careful though, because when you reach the bottom of the small hill you may think its over but there is still a huge hill coming up. Even big kids will probably scream on these rides.
Beijing Amusement Park (RMB 120, RMB 80/kids 1.1-1.4m, free/kids under 1.1m) was the third amusement park I checked out. My favorite ride there was the Water Flume. (To get there, turn left after you enter the park, walk over the big bridge and then head straight.) It was just like Shoot the Chute at Shijingshan, but it has bigger hills so you get wetter because the splash is bigger. My pants and shirt and face got all wet and I was nervous that people would think I wet my pants.
The last amusement park I researched was Chaoyang Amusement Park. My favorite ride was the swing ride, called the Whirl Wind Chairs (RMB 15; to find it, enter the park through the south gate and walk past Sony ExploraScience). This is a good name for the ride because it looks like a merry-go-round with swings hanging from the top. It goes up as tall as a giraffe and spins around and around for about five minutes. It felt like flying through the clouds on a magical swing.
