Four enriching activities to keep you engaged this summer
We are nearing the midpoint of the summer holiday. Hopefully you have had some time to rest and recharge. Perhaps you are even running out things to keep you and your family busy and engaged. Fortunately, Shanghai has no shortage of enriching activities available. We have found four fun things to do this summer that will keep you stimulated, engaged and may even teach you a valuable life skill.
Visit the world's largest astronomy museum
The Shanghai Astronomy Museum opened this month. At a gargantuan 39,000 square metres, it is officially the largest museum of its kind in the world. It houses an observatory with a 24-metre tall solar telescope, a planetarium theatre and more than 300 permanent exhibits that explore the mysteries of the cosmos. You can experience how planets distort space-time, walk into a life-size model of the Tianhe space station, see actual meteorites and much more.
It is also an architectural marvel. Taking inspiration the curvilinear motions of the planets, the building has no straight lines or right angles. The main entrance features an enormous oculus that acts as a natural clock, indicating seasons and time of day with the movements of the sun. It features an inverted glass dome under which you can get a full view of the night sky. The planetarium was designed with hidden support structures, creating the illusion of a floating sphere. This is, without a doubt, a momentous addition to Shanghai's growing museum options. It is not to be missed.
Location: 380 Lingang Dadao
Price: 15rmb per student, 30rmb per adult, 25rmb per senior
Website: www.sstm-sam.org.cn
Take a guided tour of Shanghai
Guided tours are not just for tourists. The good ones will add greater depth and texture to a place you already thought you knew well, and there are plenty of fantastic operators in Shanghai. Here are two that are not to be missed:
Historic Shanghai has been hosting walking tours, talks and lectures in Shanghai since 1998. They cover everything from the city's iconic art deco architecture to the heady, sometimes turbulent days of the treaty port era. Tours are led by locally-based experts — academics, writers, artists — who have deep knowledge of the subject matter. Their tours will make you realise that even the most commonplace things — that street corner or lane house entrance that you pass every day — can have a fascinating story.
With Untour Shanghai, you can feed your mind and your belly at the same time. The company takes deep dives into Shanghai's unique culinary culture with tours themed around nighttime snack culture, breakfast street foods and even a tour that culminates in a one-hour dumpling making class. For those looking to expand their horizons beyond Chinese cuisine, Untour even offers tours of Shanghai's Koreatown in Gubei.
Historic Shanghai: www.historic-shanghai.com
Untour Shanghai: www.untourfoodtours.com
See the Wassily Kandinsky Exhibit
The West Bund Art Museum in partnership with Centre Pompidou is hosting an excellent temporary exhibit of the works of Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky. His synesthetic studies in colour and geometry pioneered the abstract art movement and influenced the likes of Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock. This exhibit traces the evolution of the artist's work, tracing his career across five different periods in three different cities: his early years in Munich, later life in Moscow at the outset of World War I and his final years in Paris. In addition to paintings, you will see some of his lithographs, woodcuts and drypoint prints. They also have a few of his personal effects on display, like his paintbrushes, palette, picture books and magazines.
Location: 2600 Longteng Dadao
Price: 120rmb
Website: www.westbund.com/en
Take a cooking class
Being able to cook well is an underrated life skill. More importantly, a good meal is even more satisfying when you are the one who prepared it. Located in Changning District, CieCAS features a professional-grade kitchen where you can gain hands-on experience as if you were behind the scenes at your favourite restaurant. They offer classes for homemakers and whole families in a variety of cuisine styles from China, greater Asia and the West. They will teach you the basics, cooking techniques, knife skills, food storage, building sauces and more. CieCAS has a regular schedule of one-off workshops as well as longer-term classes.
Location: 789 Tianshan Xi Lu
Price: Varies by class
Website: www.ciecas.cn/homepage
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