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Hello there, families with small kids who want to get out of those mall playgrounds and into the field!
Ever since coming to Chengdu last August, I have been looking for ways to enjoy outdoor activities with our two small kids (2 and 4). But I don’t know the city and its surroundings yet, and (still) do not have a car nor a driver, and it proves to be quite hard to find information on nice places to go for a hike, running around, looking at plants and bugs, playing in the sand and water, etc. etc. We very much like the Wangjianglou park just outside our house, but there surely must be more. Also, I’m sure there are families like ours out there who have their favourite spots to go to for outdoorsy things.
So I decided to create a Yahoo group Chengdu Kids Outdoors in order to provide a space for people to join each other’s activities, exchange information, etc. My idea would be that this group would turn into a kind of very informal Outdoor club for children, with the parents taking turns in organizing activities. Activities can really be anything: stay close to home and collect bugs in your own garden, then identify them with the help of books and the internet. Do a treasure hunt in the park closeby. Go for a picnic near one of the 198 bike trails. Go to a farm and learn how that works. Activities can also be bigger: a day-hike in the hills to the East. A ski/sledge weekend with other families in Xiling or Taizishan. An overnight camping trip with campfire and stargazing in the mountains. If a parent can show the kids something about nature, organize a game or teach them a skill, that is awesome. If someone else does not know how to do that, it is also ok. We can all learn from each other. A member organizing an activity for their own children can put in on the group so that others can join in. Others will learn about new places, and make new friends.
So if you like this idea, have young kids, and would like to contribute to the activities in the group, please go to the group and become a member. I’m sure it will be lots of fun!
Kim
Chengdu Kids Outdoors https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/chengdukidsoutdoors/info
The group is still active, and new members are always welcome. Please visit the group and look in the ‘files’, ‘links’ and ‘photos’ folders for ideas about outdoor activities with children. There is also a link to a google map (in the ‘links’ folder) showing many outdoor destinations.
Please also share your own favorite destinations, either in a message to the group or as a file or link. I am sure other parents will enjoy reading about new places.Have a nice summer!
It is a group for sharing information about outdoor locations and activities that are suitable for children, from any nationality, of course including Chinese.
For non-Chinese speakers it is especially hard to find information on the internet about opportunities for hiking, camping or any other outdoor activity in Chengdu, so that is why I started the group. Anybody is welcome, but the language is English.
If there are any Chengdu-ren out there who know about nice places to go, who can give information about local hiking and outdoor organisations, or who want to join and get to know foreign families while being outdoors, please feel welcome to join and share.
Sounds good. My family and my friends families ( with kids of 7 years old) often went out for hiking, camping — maybe 2-3 hours of driving from Chengdu.
The only concern is my worry on my oral English.
Don’t worry about your English. It seems to be pretty good, and anyway there are quite some foreigners who can speak a bit of Mandarin (although not as good as your English, hahaha).
I must say that until now there were not many ‘group’ outings, the group has been mainly a place on the net to collect information on where to go and what to do there. But I would be very interested (and I’m sure other families are too) to join with others and go somewhere together. Especially if you and your friends know of nice places where to go.
Please do take the initiative to post any hiking/camping/other plans on the group! We are also interested in kids activities organized by Chinese hiking/outdoors groups (which we cannot find on the net probably because of our lack of chinese (and I’m not on weibo either), it will be good to meet new Chinese friends. We will be back in mid-August from our holidays and I’d be very happy to join then!
Could Chinese family join you?
@kim I think there is a boy scout troup here in Chengdu. I’m not sure exactly where they meet or under what name but a friend of mine used to be the scout master & take the kids hiking and camping at least once a month so there are definitely some options. You might want to go visit an international school or just harass any other foreign families with school age kids.
Sadly, Boy Scout ChengDu is only for boys and sound like they will have a great activities to come! Just received the info through school.
That’s a good idea.
Can go to the periphery of urban suburban plantations and farms, and Urban wetland park, Ocean Park
If it is accompanied by their parents, paint or sketch from nature in old town, also is a good choice.
Your can rent a bus, or self drive
Dear Shinichi,
I’m happy to hear that you like the idea. However, for foreigners in Chengdu the information you give is difficult to use. How do you think someone would tell a driver to go ‘to the periphery of urban suburban plantations and farms’? Where is that? How far? What are the facilities? what to bring? What can kids do there?Please, if anyone has good ideas for places to be outdoors with kids, please post a detailed name, address, contact numbers, some info about facilities (is there food available there, any activities, accessible for bikes, etc.), and ideally also a map. In that way, people with drivers or self-drive can actually see where they are going and plan their trip. There is hardly any information available on this kind of thing online, not in English at least.
That’s what we’re trying to put together at Chengdu Kids Outdoors, but it really depends on the input of everyone.
Can Chengdu,
although we have girls only, perhaps others would be interested in the Boy Scouts? If it is open for non-QSI kids, could you please post the information on our Chengdu Kids Outdoors group? Thanks!Great , Support ! How to contact you? Mail Address? my email: [email protected]
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