A Day in Paradise: Chimelong Amusement park + tips!

The day we went to Chimelong Paradise was quite memorable.

Firstly, we went on a Saturday after the Mid-Autumn Festival Holiday and the park was empty. 

We had the rides all to ourselves! This was amazing and I couldn't get over this fact the entire day. We essentially waited 2-3 minutes in line every time with the longest wait being 7 minutes. For some rides, we were the only ones in line! We rode the bigger attractions like Giant Frisbee and Dive Coaster 3-4 times each throughout the day!

While the picture doesn't look like much, this ride was intense. I kept my eyes closed at the drop until we were falling and this really heightened the experience.!

For half-pipe, we went twice, making some Chinese friends along the way.













Thanks random guy for the picture!
We didn't spare the 4 and 5D theaters nor the stunt and magic shows. We met other expats and Chinese there too.

Some important points:

The coolest thing, I think, about being here and being an attraction ourselves is getting to meet random people who are constantly taking pictures of us, and then us adding them on WeChat to see what they took! This happened twice and I have some great memories thanks to them. Oh, and thanks to WeChat. (If you're planning on going to China, download it now!)

With that tip said, I've compiled a few others for your visit:

Getting There
It's quite easy.
Take the metro from wherever you are to Line 3 station Hanxi Changlong. From there, take exit A, follow the crowd over the highway and into the park (about a 10 minute walk) and there you are, at the South entrance!

Tickets
We got pretty lucky. Our airbnb host kindly helped us book our park tickets. Online they were only 190CNY per person instead of 250. Plus we went on a Saturday so we had an extra hour at the park. If you can, BOOK ONLINE! There are no student discounts peeps! (Book before 4pm one day in advance.)

Food and Water
The food and drink in the park is quite expensive according to Chinese standards. Normally you should be able to eat a full meal for under $2 here in China. That is, if you are choosing correctly and know where to look. In the park you can eat things like fried squid, roasted duck, and chicken, bones included. These meals average to be around 30CNY. The more expensive meals like the burgers and fries, those cost 40-50CNY. Water and drinks range from 8CNY-12 with ice cream for 15CNY and smoothie and other drinks being the worst around 20-30CNY, and they're tiny. (Once you've spent about 2 weeks here, you'll realize that 8yuan for a bottle of water is horrendous.) I bugged some servers at the burger place about just buying a bag of fries. I didn't want to eat a burger, but I mainly just didn't want to pay for it. She kept saying no so I left. I came back with the translation of "vegetarian" on Pleco (download this app right now if you're going to China) and she made me a deal. I bought one small bag of fries for 15CNY and my heart broke a little. (So expensive!) Luckily, I made some friends next to us and one of the guys totally just gave me a bag of fries. The Chinese are pretty nice!




Bags
At every ride there is a place to put your bags. I could've gotten away with bringing my 60D into the park, but I'm glad I used the weight to bring in my own food and water, You'll read mixed reviews online about park rules but to be completely honest, security saw my food and let me in with it anyway. Before heading for the park we bought fruit, water, and pastries from a bakery nearby our airbnb hostel. Best choice ever and I can't stress it enough. BRing your own FOod!

This picture was sent to me through WeChat from a random girl

Be prepared to walk
The park is quite large and the rides far spread out. We must have walked the entire park 3 times. Luckily the park closes at 7 on Saturdays because if not, we might not have been able to ride every ride (except the kiddie ones of course).

Make friends!
Trust me on this one. Your day will be even better! When you hear music, be like our group and dance in line! You'll cheer up the ride operators and they might turn up the music so you can hear it on the ride, and people will film you and snap pictures left and right.

A Weekend in Guangzhou, Guangdong, CHINA

Planning the 1st Holiday on ILP!

Our first vacay falls on some not-to-pleasant dates.. holidays in China are tough to get around in because there are just so many people and places. So since we're traveling during a festival, our inital plans of going to Yangshuo were quickly dismissed due to the unavailability of train tickets. We took our coordinator's advice and decided on going to Guangzhou, a city just north of Zhongshan.

After some resesarch, I found that the amusement park I'd written on my bucket list is there and te night markets are full of authentic food and treasures.
So we are going! I've booked lodging and am currently in the process of planning our route from our apartment here to there.

The tentative itinerary goes something like this:

Bullet train from Zhongshan north --> Guangzhou south

Metro line 2 to Chonggang --> line 8 to WanShengwei
At that point we will go out and explore, find some food, and maybe head over to Shangxiajui Square where the market starts.

Day 1 will be Chimelong Paradise. With a student discount, the ticket is 165RMB, plus 100RMB for the fast-pass (well worth the $15 to jump in front of 1000s of people), and 20RMB for the all-day train pass if we want. All in all, the entire park ticket will cost less than any American amusement park.
We'll take a free shuttle into the park after getting to Hanxi Changlong station.

Day 2 will be touring the temples, memorials, and other sights in Guangzhou, unless the group wants to do something else.

Day 3 will be .... shopping! The best thing to do in China! We'll hit the night market this day if we haven't already and maybe do some day shopping as well. Since we're only a quick bullet train away from home, souvenir shopping here is a great idea !

"The man who goes alone can start today, but he who travels with another must wait til the other is ready." - Henry David Thoreau -