The weekends just become busier with more and more people shaking off the winter cold. Making plans to catch up with friends has been assigned highest priority. But where to go? For the next several weeks this series MUNCH will spotlight different family friendly venues around town. If you’d like to be featured please write an email to wanjauwairimu@beijing-kids.com  

Hilton Beijing Capital Airport isn’t a new location, but they have different dishes available for their Sunday buffet at their 360° restaurant. The Sunday Brunch for families kicks off on April 24 from 11.30am-3pm.  The buffet offers seafood and different meats such as roasted lamb, desserts, and a very good selection of wines and champagne.

The hotel offers access to a fully equipped kids’ center that features a filled ball pit, mini slides, and climbing frames. Kids can use the outdoor area to play classic games like Hopscotch, Red Rover, Red Light & Green Light, Momma Chicken and Eagle, and “Old Wolf, What Time Is It?”.

Prices:

• RMB 388 per person with free flowing soft drink
• RMB 438 per person with free flowing Champagne, wines, beer, and soft drinks
• Half price for kids between 6-12 years and free for kids under the age of 6. Note: that the half price depends on the RMB 388 or RMB 438 options chosen and all prices are subject to 15% service charge

To make reservation call 6450 4788

Photos: Courtesy of Hilton Beijing Capital Airport

Junior Indoor Ski Club
Imagine Snowsports is running an indoor ski program at Qiaobo Indoor Ski Center. Starting Saturday September 12, the program will run for eight Saturdays. The club is open to skiers and boarders of all levels, and classes will be taught by English-speaking instructors from Imagine.

RMB 3,200 for 8 sessions or RMB 400 per session. Price includes tickets, rental of all equipment and clothing.
Years 2-3: 9-11am
Years 4-6: 11am-1pm

If you require transport, a bus will depart Dulwich College Beijing (DCB) Legend Garden Campus at 8am (Years 2-3) and 10am (Years 4-6). Bus will return to DCB at 12noon (Years 2-3) and 2pm (Years 4-6). Transport is an extra RMB 100 per session. For more information and to sign up, contact (5739 4933, snowsports@imagine-china.com) www.imagine-china.com/junior-indoor-ski-club2

INN Shunyi: Night Out
The International Newcomer’s Network (INN) is finally brining their famous "Night Out" to Shunyi. The inaugural Shunyi Night Out is tomorrow, Thursday September 10. The venue is O’Steak Restaurant at Shine City starting at 7pm. O’Steak has created a delicious three course dinner, including wine, for only RMB 220 per person. This social evening will be a great way to catch up with friends and to make new acquaintances. RSVP no later than today 12noon to ShunyiNightOut@innbeijing.org or visit www.innbeijing.org for more details.

New Playcenter
Renee International Children’s Art Center is offering a new parent-led class for children 0-5 years. At Playcenter, adults and children can come together to work, play, and learn. Initial sessions are offered on Monday and Wednesday, from 9am-12pm. More sessions may be offered, if there is enough interest. Booking is essential, due to maximum class size. To book, or for more information, contact Rebecca Archer (136 9329 2810, beclamb@yahoo.com). Renee International Children’s Art Center, opposite River Garden Villas, Houshayu, Shunyi District.

Dulwich Community Program: Adult Classes
The Dulwich Community Program (DCP) is now offering yoga and kick-boxing classes for adults. Both classes will be held in the dance room at DCB Legend Sports Club. Register at the Sports Club reception. For more information, click here.

Kickboxing
Tuesday 5.15-6.15pm
RMB 1,000 / 10 sessions

Yoga
Starting September 16
Wednesday 12.50-1.50pm
Thursday 11:50am-12:50pm
RMB 800 / 10 sessions

beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent Sally Wilson moved to Beijing in 2010 from the UK with her husband and son. Her daughter was born here in 2011 and both her kids keep her happily busy. In her spare time, Sally loves to stroll through Beijing’s hutongs and parks. She is a (most of the time) keen runner and loves reading: books, magazines, news, and celeb websites – anything really. Sally is also a bit of a foodie and loves trying out new restaurants.

Photos: courtesy of Imagine, INN, Earl McGehee (Flickr)

All this warm weather may put you in mind to build some sand castles. Sadly for us here in Beijing, a beach worth sinking our toes in may lie miles or thousands of miles away, depending on individual standards! 

Luckily, there is an answer (of sorts) for every need in Beijing. A giant indoor sandbox can be found at Yuyuto, on the third floor of Shimao Gongsan (the mall on the north east corner of Xindong Lu and Gongti Beilu). Yuyuto is a Chinese play center group which offers Japanese designed children’s playgrounds across 40 locations in China, 17 of which are in Beijing. Facilities at Shimao Gongsan include a ball pit, play area, and the previously mentioned enormous sandbox.

The sandbox is larger than any I’ve ever seen, filled with more toys than you can imagine: tractors, shovels, buckets, you name it, it’s in there. There’s even a mini house and a little slide. While in the sandbox, kids are equipped with little helmets, presumably because the toys here are made of stronger plastic than those in the rest of the center. 

In the colorful play area there are giant activity toys, such as a spinning barrel, the surfboards mentioned above, a merry-go-round (that doesn’t quite rotate), building blocks, and monkey bars.

The few times I’ve walked by it’s been relatively empty. I imagine the reason it’s not thronged with visitors is the price. There are two different sections, the sandbox and the play area, and access to each one is RMB 80. There are memberships from RMB 300 to RMB 1800 unlocking discounted tickets, but for RMB 1800 you might be better off buying a ticket to Thailand.

However, on a murky day when you want to build a sand castle without leaving the neighborhood, RMB 80 may be worth it. At six months old, our son Kai still has a ways to go before his first play date at the sandpit.

Yuyuto 悠游堂北京世贸工三店
RMB 80-160. Memberships/discounts available. Daily 10am-10pm. Shimao Gongsan, Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District. (84185211) www.yuyuto.com 北京市朝阳区工人体育馆北路世贸工三

Photos: Courtesy of Theresa Pauline

Beijing’s most popular government-run indoor play area just got a tad more expensive for a three-hour romp. The price of admission at Fundazzle, long held at RMB 50 per child, has been raised to RMB 65. Although we hoped that this meant the employees are being paid more and would no longer look at Fundazzlers like prisoners in a maximum-security facility, sadly that was not the case. The added cost seems to have gone into renovating the toddler play area and re-carpeting the entire facility. In any event, our test subjects found the new digs thoroughly enjoyable and they were peeved when we forced them to leave for lunch.

Our test family detected no signs of changes to the massive ball pit and the huge three-story play structure for children over 110cm. Note, it is still ill-advised for parents to enter the play structure as it is unkind to adult-sized people. Especially if said adult has a sore lower back.

It appeared that work might have also been done on the bathroom plumbing as it was reported that the toilets didn’t stink. For now, this remains unsubstantiated as it is possible that our test parent was suffering from a head cold and therefore failed to detect the otherwise omnipresent smell of stale urine.
 
Alas, there is still no wifi or a nearby Starbucks.

Photos: Christopher Lay

The Kerry Hotel’s Adventure Zone opened to the public on November last year to loads of fanfare. The play center spans three floors and was designed by a British company for kids ages 4-12. It features slides, climbing areas, toy cars, a snack bar and awesome themed rooms that look perfect for your kid’s next birthday party. And the young at heart can still enjoy the facilities.

Adrenaline seekers, adults and teens have the prefect place to test out their fears and get a rush at the Demon Drop Slide which is a 90 degree angle, 7.3m vertical drop. If younger children set off in trepidation then there are two smaller slide to choose from that have mild drops. Kids under age 4 can play in the Role Play Village to try out their vocation to different careers, padded slides, ball pits, climbing frames and ramps and roller.

The Adventure zone is a members only play center at the heart of the CBD but there are other options available such as the session cards. Sessions card go for RMB 800 and holds five entries. With the session card kids can play for two hours from Monday to Friday and one hour Saturday and Sunday. This offer expires on January 30 in which case families membership cards only will be sold.   Membership is RMB 5, 000 for half a year and RMB 7,500 for a year. But if you bought a session card before January 30 then it is still valid for one month after date of purchase.

Find reviews out more about how much it is to host a birthday here

Photo courtesy of Mike Wester

Raising house prices in Beijing were to blame for the shut down of the Magic Bean House which had been operating in the capital since 2010. Once located near the west gate of Chaoyang Park, Magic Bean House was a member of the Association of Children’s museum and a favorite spot for birthday parties. The themed parties were based on cartoon characters which were a big hit and will be solely missed.

The museum balanced a fun play area for younger children and educational center. It was a hands on place for children to develop their skills with a supermarket and mechanic’s garage role play area. The notice on their website (www.magicbeanhouse.com, Chinese only) says that they are looking for a new location to set up shop. This is now a wait and see what happens situation.

In the mean time, here is a list of indoor play centers around town to visit over the holidays, or during a smoggy day, and other birthday party venues to consider.

Adventure Zone
The newly opened play center at the Kerry Hotel features slides, climbing areas, toy cars, a snack bar and themed rooms that would make a nice destination to your kid’s next birthday party. This space is good toddlers to tweens. Located at the 3/F, in the Kerry Sports Center, Kerry Hotel, 1 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang District (6561 3388)
朝阳区朝阳区光华路1号北京嘉里中心饭店3层 Mon-Fri 10am-9pm, Sat-Sun 9am-10pm. (http://www.beijingkerrycentre.com/adventure_zone.html).

Family Box
The main features are a large scale climbing frame, Mickey Mouse play area, swimming pool, Sensory Room, Soft Island and Craft Room. Other services provided include: party hosting, catering, coffee shop, and crèche facility. Located in Wangjing at Bldg 4, 51 Wangjing Beilu and is open Sat-Thu 9am-8pm, Fri 10am-8pm. To find out more call 6478 6163 or visit www.familyboxes.com.cn.

Mitty Jump
The main areas of Mitty Jump are the tree house and swaying bridges, a spaceship, a squishy volcano with about a half dozen ball pits, Mitty’s home with a small vegetable patch, a bouncy castle, a mini train, and a mini football (soccer) pitch. Mitty Jump is located on the 4th floor of the Lotus Shopping Mall and Poly Wanhe Cinema on Futong West Street in Wangjing. For directions, pricing, and other info, visit www.mittyjump.com (Chinese) or call 8421-0908.

Fundazzle
The main features are a huge two-story jungle gym, trampolines and a toddler area with small cars, swings, seesaws and toy houses. Fundazzle is located on Gongti Nanlu in Sanlitun near the Worker’s Stadium. It is open Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm, Sat-Sun and holidays 9am-7pm. Visit www.fundazzle-nc.com or call 6593 6208 for more info.

New City Center
Birthday party hosting and planners is the new face of the New City Center. They offer packages that are inclusive of decorations, games and activities, prizes, and child-approved food. They keep children busy on that special day with theme centered crafts and other activities. The NCC is located at 2/F, 112 Lize Xiyuan (above Yuan Art Museum), Guangshun Beidajie, Wangjing, Chaoyang District (6475 1066, Chinese: 150 1035 8799, English: 131 2661 1088) Tue-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 1-6pm. 朝阳区望京广顺北大街利泽西园112号楼2层（元典美术馆上面）www.thenewcitycenter.com

Photo courtesy of The Magic Bean House, NCC, Christopher Lay and Michael Wester