Raise your hand if you’ve ever seen John Cena host Wipeout and laughed your butt off when a contestant fell into the water. I have! And I’ve also wanted to try my hand at giant obstacle courses. Seriously, how difficult can they be? Well, here’s your chance to spend a day with your family and battle each other for the title of family champion!

疯狂的麦咭北京店 (Fēngkuáng de mài jī běijīng diàn), or Crazy Magee, in Daxing District is a hidden gem worth the journey, even if it’s a bit of a drive past the Fifth Ring Road. While it may require a bit of a drive, the experience here is packed with excitement, teamwork and memories that make every mile worthwhile.

Why It’s Worth the Trip

It’s not like the kids’ indoor playgrounds that you can find all over the city. This place is an adventure hub designed for intergenerational fun. With a 4.2-star rating on Dianping and over 470 positive reviews, it’s clear that families keep coming back (over 300 repeat visitors can’t be wrong!).

They’ve got the super popular light up grid adventure game where you run around the room to step on certain light up squares and a room that’s filled with lazers like you’re in a secret spy movie.

There’s the giant foam wall that you need to run past as it randomly pushes out squares, attempting to push you into the foam pit. What an awesome way to test out your agility as you take on your kids.

They’ve also got a giant balancing floor where you need to work together as a team to avoid falling off the ever-tilting floor, and plenty more fun activities.

General Info:
Open from 10am-noon and 1pm-7pm
Price: RMB 393 for four challenges

Find it:
Bldg 2, 14 Zhonghe Jie, Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone, Daxing District
大兴区北京经济技术开发区中和街14号2幢
Tel: 40 0166 3666

Looking for more family friendly places to go with your kids? Join the Jingkids Events WeChat Group. Add Wilhelmina87 on WeChat to request to join.

Images: Douyin, Dianping

If you’ve been in Beijing for some time, then you are probably aware that there are many apartment complexes around the city that lack elevators. While this is undeniably good for your gluteus, it can be a big mafan for those of us with small kids, pets, or strollers and wheeled objects of all shapes and sizes.

Luckily this is all about to change. But, it will come at a price. South China Morning Post reported that starting last year an elevator company in Beijing began installing elevators in older apartment complexes in Daxing, with the first one becoming available for use just last week.

While these lifts attached to the outside of buildings will make life easier for families and Beijing’s elderly population, the companies who are in charge of the construction have enacted a top-up card system that requires you to pay RMB 0.2 for each use.

A family of three would spend about RMB 60 to RMB 100 a month to use the lift, the firm that installed the elevator was quoted as saying. That would end up costing around RMB 1000 every year. The company also plans to use advertising as a means to help cover construction costs.

While many of these buildings aren’t very tall, it will be a welcomed addition to the 2,264 buildings in Daxing built before 2006 which do not have lifts, according to the report. Also, it will make the process of relocating into these building much more manageable. We still have nightmares about carrying boxes and furniture up and down six flights of stairs at our previous abode.

Photo: The Beijinger

A new family-friendly restaurant could be a nice place to hang out this weekend for those living in Chaoyang. Huiben Weidao opened eight months ago on the second floor of a shopping mall called Tongzhijia (Kid’s Home) next to Laiguangyong metro.

The second floor of this mall is mostly rented by all kinds of language schools and other educational centers for kids – which were all, to be fair, pretty empty early Tuesday afternoon when we went to scout it out. More people are said to come on weekends. The mall even has a big rock-climbing wall that would be loved by young naturalists. Mini-buggies for rent are perfect for 3 to 5 year olds.

Passing all the playgrounds, we came to a new restaurant located on the west corner of the mall. The place is not that big, but looks adorable with origami on the ceiling and colorful pictures of dishes arranged as funny faces all around the walls. The manager of the restaurant, Coco, kindly agreed to tell us about the place.

Huiben Weidao is a family-oriented restaurant. It has lots of meals for kids, a playground area where the youngsters can jump and run while wiped-out parents are having lunch. Although most of the visitors are Chinese, Coco says that the café is also popular among local expat families—mainly from the Chaoyang, Shunyi, and Haidian areas.

The restaurant has cooking classes and storytelling hours for RMB 295 or RMB 466, if the kid stays for a meal afterwards. No more than 8 children per class are accepted. All classes are held in Chinese, but the actions are not really complicated, and it can be a fun way for kids to learn some basic words while baking pizza.

A birthday party package is also available. For that there’s a fixed price of RMB 6,800 for a 4-hour venue rent plus a full buffet. (This price applies for fewer than 10 people; extra attendees will be charged more.) As for decorations, the customer has many themed options from Frozen to Superheroes.  One of the extra services Huiben Weidao offers might sound attractive for those looking for an unusual way to celebrate: you can bake a birthday cake right there with assistance from the chef!

Huiben Weidao also has a discount system with a rechargeable card, that, if you put RMB 1,800/ 4,800/ 8,800 on it, gives you a discount of 5, 10 or 12 percent. Family meal sets are also on promotion. Until the end of July payment through Alipay will save some money as well! In any case, be prepared to spend around RMB 80-100 per person.

So, our verdict is that it’s a nice place to come if you live nearby and want to have a quiet family lunch before exploring the attractions around, but it may not be worth coming from far away.

Huiben Weidao
Open Tuesday-Sunday. 10.30am – 8.30pm. 朝阳区望京广顺北大街19号六佰本商业中心二楼A08.

Photos: Anastasia Levina, beijingchihuotuan

A year ago, we wrote about the Dandelion School in Daxing District. As the only officially recognized high school for children of migrant workers, Dandelion principal Hong Zheng and her dedicated staff have their work cut out for them. The school takes its mission of self-reliance seriously and doesn’t get by solely on donations, but every yuan helps considering Dandelion’s yearly running costs of RMB 3.5 million. Here are some ways you can help.

1. Buy Dandelion’s gift products

The Dandelion School relies on a social enterprise initiative that repackages their students’ art into usable and creative gifts like notebooks.With Christmas just around the corner, this is a gift idea that is original, sustainable, and great for your karma. Dandelion’s products can be purchased directly through the school, at the Kerry Centre, or at Dandelion’s downtown office (see below for contact information). Dandelion also sells its products at seasonal bazaars and directly to corporations.

2. Donate

Some of Dandelion’s most pressing needs are tuition and boarding fees. For RMB 680/semester, you can sponsor a student’s tuition; for RMB 500/year, you can ensure that he or she has somewhere to stay at the school. People can also donate more material goods, like warm winter clothing (hats, coats, and gloves), blankets, or money to buy coal for heating. There are three ways to donate: directly to the school, by wire transfer within China, or by cheque from abroad.

3. Volunteer

Volunteering can be done year-round at the Dandelion School. Volunteers can work on a variety of areas, including English, life skills (such as interviewing for a job), and after school activities. Many high school students from international schools (ages 14+) have done community service hours or earned merit badges at Dandelion. In the past, teens have helped Dandelion’s students with music, sports, English, tutoring, and art projects. Volunteer hours are flexible, with no minimum time requirement. The best times are afternoons, evenings, and weekends.

4. Spread the word

One of the best things you can do for any charitable organization is to tell others about it. Spread the word about the Dandelion School’s mission, needs, and volunteering opportunities. Get your child’s entire high school class to volunteer for a day, or tell members of your community how they can help.

The Dandelion School: 22 Tuanhe Lu, Shoubaozhuang, Xihongmen Township, Daxing District (6128 8964/6686) www.dandelionschool.org
蒲公英中学，大兴区西红门镇寿宝庄团河路22号

To find out more about Dandelion’s social enterprise or to see the school’s products, contact Dodo Dou at dodo.dandelion@gmail.com or 158 1068 2963.