About Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park

The name Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park is not unfamiliar. I have heard of it for a long time, but this is my first time here. It is located on the banks of Dishui Lake in Shanghai and is a theme park centered around the characteristics of marine culture. It mainly includes five theme areas: Mermaid Bay, Polar Town, Ice and Snow Kingdom, Underwater Wonderland, and Marine Tribe, as well as distinctive marine themed vacation hotels; Six major animal exhibition venues - Antarctic Penguin Pavilion, Sea Beast Exploration Pavilion, Iceberg Arctic Pavilion, Underwater World Pavilion, Volcanic Shark Pavilion, Coral Jellyfish Pavilion; Nine star plays - "Whale Science Popularization Show", "Dolphin Love Song", "Walrus Journey", "White Whale Love", "Mermaid Fairy Tale", "Water Dance Fish Room", "Town Party", "Water Flying Man", "Ocean Dream Float Parade"; Six major amusement equipment - volcano drifting, dolphin roller coaster, space-time cable car, deep-sea adventure, and so on.

It can be said that there are endless attractions, exhibition halls, and exciting performances here. If you want to experience and play here, you really need to prepare a travel guide and spend one or two days properly.

A rough description of the travel route

Generally, the gameplay here is mostly a one-day trip, and this time we are also on a one-day trip. There are two classic one-day trip gameplay options:
1. One day tour in Haichang:
⑴ Sea Beast Exploration Hall -- ⑵ Orca Theater -- ⑶ Antarctic Penguin Pavilion -- ⑷ Dolphin Roller Coaster -- ⑸ Coral Jellyfish Pavilion -- ⑹ Volcanic Drifting -- ⑺ Dolphin Theater -- ⑻ Underwater World Pavilion -- ⑻ Volcanic Time and Space Cable Car -- ⑽ Iceberg Arctic Pavilion

2. Haichang highlight check-in route:
⑴ Orca Theater -- ⑵ Walrus Theater -- ⑶ Sea Beast Exploration Hall -- ⑷ Mermaid Bay -- ⑸ Mermaid Square -- ⑹ Antarctic Penguin Pavilion -- ⑺ Coral Jellyfish Pavilion -- Ϊ Dolphin Theater -- Ϋ Volcanic Drifting -- ⑽ Underwater World Pavilion

For the above two gameplay modes, you can basically check in the representative points of the scenic area one by one. For some other attractions such as Ocean Square, Ocean Horse, Dolphin Discovery Hu, Mermaid Stage, Volcano Shark Aquarium, etc. that you will encounter on the way, you can choose to check in and play along the way. If you find it fun, you can play carefully.
The entire scenic area can be said to have a considerable area, and it takes a whole day to walk and watch (plus waiting in line, not all of it may be played in one day), so you can focus on playing the projects that interest you.

For the theater performance time and scenic area tour, you can choose to enter the WeChat mini program of the scenic area. This mini program can locate and navigate in real time, which is very intuitive and does not require unnecessary detours. The performance time also has a clear time point, and you can arrange the order of watching the performance reasonably. If the arrangement is good, it will save a lot of waiting time.

Summary of highlights of this trip

Our trip to Haichang Ocean Park was also a one-day trip, starting around 10am in the morning and ending before 6pm in the afternoon. We had already arrived at the basic check-in points in the scenic area and had watched almost all the theater performances. It can be said that the experience was still very great.

Our route is roughly like this:
Morning: Sea Beast Exploration Hall - Iceberg Arctic Hall - White Whale Love Performance - Walrus Theater
Lunch: Have lunch at Penguin Restaurant (with a set meal of 70-80 yuan per person), and also visit the Antarctic Penguin Pavilion
Afternoon: Orca Theater - Time and Space Cable Car - Dolphin Theater Watching Dolphin Love Song - Visit Volcano Shark Hall - Visit Volcano Shark Hall Watching Mermaid Fairy Tale Performance - Experience Dolphin Roller Coaster - Visit Coral Jellyfish Hall - Wet and Refreshing Party - Stroll Food Festival - Underwater World Hall - Watch Water Dance Fish Room Performance - End of Trip

The entire itinerary can be said to be very tightly arranged, and the day of sightseeing was quite tense. Although it was a Friday, I also found that there were quite a few tourists visiting Haichang Ocean Park. Some entertainment facilities still needed to be queued, and some performances still needed to be attended early to secure a good viewing spot (such as White Whale Love and Mermaid Fairy Tale).

The final summary of the itinerary is that it is important to have a pre - and post visit sequence, otherwise the day will be long and there will be less to experience.

Photo Collection of Ocean Park

During this visit to Ocean Park, I found that the aquarium is very suitable for shooting silhouette and emotional films. The blue indoor lighting makes it easy to capture images with people standing in front of glass without having to make any movements. For traveling with children or accompanying women, girlfriends can freely take photos of tourists. Of course, this is also the filming location for the recently popular TV drama "Thirty". If you have watched that TV drama, you can watch many scenes from here while playing, such as the road to the Iceberg North Pole Pavilion, the Whale Shark Restaurant at the Volcano Shark Pavilion (which is an internet famous restaurant and looks great for photo taking), and the performance of confessing to Chen Yu in the drama.

The specific camera commentary for this trip

Although Haichang Ocean Park is adjacent to Dishui Lake, which used to be a considerable distance from downtown Shanghai, transportation is still very convenient. It can be reached by self driving or subway, and there is no need to worry about not having parking spaces for self driving.
Before entering the scenic area, you need to go through three checks. During the current epidemic period, you will check your Suishen code (out of town tourists can scan the code to see their Suishen code). The second time is to open the package for inspection, and a small amount of sealed food is still allowed to be brought in; The third step is to verify the ticket and swipe your ID card.

After entering the scenic area, you can check in and visit one by one according to the route you have set. We turned right at the entrance and directly entered the Sea Beast Exploration Hall, where you can observe nearly a hundred sea beasts, totaling six species. If you are careful, you can find gluttonous sea lions, honest manatees, mischievous otters, and lazy seals. There are two levels here, above ground and underground. On the ground, you can watch seals basking in the sun and more. Up close, you can see them very clearly, with shiny skin and black eyes that easily sink into the water.

If you feel that the ground is hot, you can take the stairs to the underground level. Here, through the glass, you can see the scene of them swimming in the water, as if you are there. Standing next to the glass, it feels like they are swimming past you. Many children also lie on the glass to watch these animals.

After visiting the Sea Beast Pavilion, we went to the Iceberg Arctic Pavilion

Iceberg Arctic Pavilion

Speaking of this museum, you can see it from the car window outside the scenic area. It can be said that this is a high point of the scenic area. When you walk in, you will find that there is still Qiankun in the mountains. Entering the gate here, one feels a refreshing sensation. For those outside the room with a temperature of thirty-six or seven degrees, this place really shouldn't be too cool. As you walk around, you can see many species belonging to the Arctic. There are dozens of Arctic visitors living here, such as sea lions, beluga whales, polar bears, Arctic wolves, Arctic foxes, bearded seals, and spotted seals.

As soon as you enter the door, you can see a moving Arctic fox, a lazy Arctic wolf lying on the ground, and a moving polar bear. It is said that the two polar bears here are artificially bred in a natural state, namely the swimming loving "Pizu" and the quiet and gentle "Ya Tou".

The most noteworthy estimate is the internet famous bearded seal here - Dingding. This name is really a super image. When you walk into the glass where it is located, you can directly see its big pancake face posted on the glass. Its protruding nose and eyes are already on the same plane, which looks fun and cute. Looking at its appearance, you will want to ask who taught you this skill. It's really unreasonable whether you are popular or not.

The most time-consuming part of visiting the Iceberg Arctic Pavilion, in my opinion, is the performance of White Whale Love. Before watching the performance, you will hear some popular science explanations about white whales. If you listen carefully, you will also learn a lot about white whales. More and more people are waiting to watch the performance, and the stepped walkway and giant glass have already been filled with people. I have also found a middle height position to wait for the performance to begin. As the performers (the beluga whale and the actor) take their positions, one can see the person and the beluga whale dancing in the water in perfect harmony, showing off their graceful movements. The beluga whale will use its head to press against the actor's feet to accelerate its movement, and its bent limbs will also perform a graceful pose with the performer. Watching such a performance always makes one wonder how many days and nights of communication it would take to match such a tacit understanding. It's really not easy.

Walrus Theater

As noon approached, I happened to catch up with another walrus performance. As someone watching the performance here, I glanced around and realized that I wasn't fully seated. I guess many of the people who came to play didn't calculate the time so accurately. The Walrus Theater is located in the theme area of Polar Town, with a Broadway style stage. The internal stage consists of several high stools connected together, resembling a train carriage. The main actors are a walrus weighing over a thousand pounds, three agile sea lions, and a caregiver who cooperates seamlessly with them.

With the instructions of the caregiver, both walruses and sea lions can make funny body language, applaud, act cute and irritable, do sit ups, one handed handstands, and so on. It feels like they are all versatile walruses and sea lions. The entire performance lasts for about 20 minutes, and there is also an interactive experience for tourists to immerse themselves in at the end of the performance. If you want to have the opportunity to participate in such an experience, it is recommended to sit forward and respond positively.

Dining at Penguin Restaurant

The place for lunch is Penguin Restaurant, which is a restaurant themed around penguins. The restaurant is connected to the Antarctic Penguin Pavilion, and many seats have direct views of penguins. The meals here are mostly set meals, and there are also children's meals. Adults usually have around 70 yuan per person. The restaurant follows the design of Penguin Pavilion and also has two floors.

One noteworthy feature of the Antarctic Penguin Pavilion is the "Penguin Super Bowl" made of acrylic glass material, which provides a panoramic view of the natural lifestyle of nearly a hundred penguins, including emperor penguins, Adelie penguins, and Papua penguins. I think the best place to watch the Penguin Super Bowl is on the first floor. Looking up, you can vaguely see the emperor penguins standing on the ice blocks through the water, as well as various penguins swimming freely in the Penguin Bowl. If you want to get a closer look at penguins, you can climb up to the second floor and choose to watch penguins close to the glass. You can clearly see their black and white contrasting colors, fur, pointed mouths, and lively little eyes.

So you can also have lunch while visiting the Penguin Pavilion. The taste of the set meal here is still good, and the overall dining crowding is also decent.

Orca Theater

After having lunch and watching the Antarctic Penguins, the next performance will be at the Orca Theater. The Orca Theater is an open-air theater, and compared to indoor theater performances, the space here is much larger. Of course, the temperature in summer is relatively higher, but sitting on the stands is also cool. The entire theater stands are divided into three parts. Here is a friendly reminder that if you want to get wet, you can choose to sit on both sides near the stage. Be sure to prepare for getting wet, or prepare umbrellas or raincoats, as there will be killer whales playing in the water during the performance.

Actually, you don't have to worry about not being able to see everything from anywhere, because there is a huge electronic screen in front that will choose a good angle to showcase the entire performance. The entire performance starts with a dream from an animated story and a dialogue with killer whales, calling on humanity to protect our friends, the marine environment, and cherish the diversity of marine life. And I feel that the performance of killer whales is so wonderful that it can only be understood without words. Even when I recorded it with my camera, I missed the most beautiful shots, such as the scene of them turning over and jumping out of the water. In short, the significance of calling for animal protection in such a performance is greater than the performance itself.

After watching the killer whale performance, I directly took the time and space cable car here. The two ends of the time and space cable car are the Iceberg Arctic Pavilion and the Volcano Shark Pavilion. The cable car is the only unobstructed water and land view cable car in the country. The viewing angle is beyond words, and you can see the scenery of different corners of the Ocean Park from a high place, such as roller coasters, drifting excitement, and so on. Just one thing is that this cable car only has some ventilation openings at the bottom of the feet, and other areas are relatively closed. It's still a bit stuffy to sit in during the summer, but fortunately, the ride time is not long.

Dolphin Theater

Following our own schedule, we took the Time Space Cable Car past the Shark Pavilion to the Dolphin Theater. Compared to the Whale Theater, this theater is also larger in size and indoor. We arrived earlier and attracted a lot of tourists. Then, two foreigners appeared to warm up the performance. The interactive warm-up in the audience was very effective. In no time, the entire theater began to liven up, without any boredom waiting for the performance to begin.

The Dolphin Theater is designed with technology and interactive scenes, combining high-tech equipment such as sound, light, electricity, and water curtains, as well as the integration of dolphins and actors, to provide visitors with an immersive experience. To be honest, it's really surprising that dolphins and humans can cooperate so well. It's unbelievable that human trainers and marine creatures can perform together so seamlessly. The performances here still leave a deep impression when writing travelogues, such as the scene of humans and dolphins dancing in the water, and the beautiful movements of several dolphins jumping out of the water, which are all admirable.

Volcano Shark Aquarium and Mermaid Performance

After watching the dolphin performance, I took a few steps back to the Volcano Shark Aquarium. I didn't pay much attention when I passed by before, but this time I strolled around and found that it was a gathering of different shark species. Entering from the entrance was like entering a shark cabin, with different shark science knowledge on both sides and text explanations on the side. Coincidentally, I would also hear explanations from the on-site staff.

In addition to reading popular science about sharks, there are also performances by mermaids and a popular restaurant called Whale Shark Restaurant. It can be said that the mermaid's performance can be seen sitting in the Whale Shark Restaurant, but of course, one cannot enter the Whale Shark Restaurant without spending money. This is the place where Lin Youyou and Xu Huanshan had dinner in "Thirty". It's closer to the glass and set against the backdrop of a sea of fish in the back, which is indeed much more romantic. No wonder many people like this scene.

Watching mermaid performances is like stepping out of the shark science popularization cabin, where you will see a large space. You don't have to wait too long to see beautiful mermaids dancing and swimming in the water, and sometimes the schools of fish next to them also swim. The mermaids are busy performing on their own and occasionally greet the audience. The mermaid princess in fairy tales must be like this in front of her!

Exciting dolphin roller coaster

As for why it's called the Dolphin Roller Coaster, I only understood after getting off the roller coaster. This roller coaster track can cover half of the scenic area, and you can see the tracks crossing the sky in almost every corner of the scenic area, which always makes people eager to try. For roller coasters, some people may feel scared, but after riding it, they will feel stimulated and it's not a big deal. Sitting on it until the end, I felt like it only took a few tens of seconds. I felt like my body had just returned to its original position, but soon it had tilted to one side. I could only hear the tourists behind me shouting. Sitting in the front, my body kept swaying left and right along with the roller coaster. Fortunately, the roller coaster here did not have a 360 degree rotation, but it also experienced the sky and earth, passing through the belly of a dolphin (which should be the origin of the dolphin roller coaster).
Kind reminder, there are quite a few people riding roller coasters, so it's important to carefully calculate your time and queue up.

Have a wet party at Mermaid Square

In the scorching summer, playing in water can cool down. In addition to drifting on the volcano, there are also water splashing and wet body parties here. Of course, it is important to keep this activity open. In my opinion, most people here are taking care of their children, and adults may find it difficult to relax. However, the children are wearing swimsuits or raincoats, and they are not only happy but also joyful. It's not just about playing with water guns or bubbles here, there are also various beautiful little guys and girls dancing happily, taking away the atmosphere of the scene.

Coral Jellyfish Pavilion

This is a relatively quiet museum. Just watch the jellyfish slowly swaying in the water quietly, and with the color changing RGB lights, it always makes people feel the mystery of the ocean. Yes, visitors are constantly looking for angles to take pictures of these creatures. In addition to the lively and swaying jellyfish here, there are also colorful large coral towers, which add some clarity to the understanding of the ocean.

Underwater World Pavilion

This is the final itinerary for this trip, and it's already past 5pm. Walking into this exhibition hall, you'll be immersed in a dual channel underwater world where you can see various marine creatures swimming overhead and beside you. Watching the constant flow of people and slow-moving marine creatures, you can't help but marvel at the diversity of marine life. Recalling this trip to the ocean park, you've truly gained a lot of knowledge. Simply watching different theater performances, as well as the textual knowledge and swimming species lying quietly there, vividly tell the mystery of the ocean.

After strolling through the underwater passage, there is also a dance performance between humans and fish. Watching groups of yellow fish swimming around the people is such a romantic thing. Although the performance is not long, it is indeed very exciting. The underwater performance looks simple, but it is the result of their hard work and practice. I've been wondering why fish swim with people, but later I found out it's because people carry fish food around their waist. I think these fish are so greedy.

Tips for Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park

To play here, you need to plan carefully how to play, and if you want to play in the water, it's best to have clothes that can be changed. In summer, although there isn't a lot of outdoor activity time, you should also do a good job of avoiding the heat. If taking photos, follow the rules here and do not turn on the flash.

Opening Hours
Weekdays 09:30-20:00 (latest admission 19:30); Peak Day 09:00-20:30 (latest entry 19:30)
National medical staff: As of December 31, 2020, medical staff from all over the country (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) can enter the park free of charge with valid identification documents

All medical staff from Shanghai who go to Hubei for support: All medical staff from Shanghai who go to Hubei for support can apply for and open a family annual pass (including 3 people) at the Park Annual Pass Center, and can enter the park unlimited times within one year from the date of card opening.
Free supplementary explanation: The above information is for reference only. Please refer to the information disclosed by the scenic spot on the same day for specific details.
Service facilities
Parking Lot: [Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park Parking Lot] Reference Price: ¥ 50/time; Address: No. 200 Yinfei Road, Nanhui New Town, Pudong New Area, Shanghai; Storage location: approximately 1000; In addition to the parking lot in Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park (No. 200, Yinfei Road), there are three municipal supporting parking lots around the park, which are respectively located in the parking lot on Lingang Avenue (near Lingang Avenue subway station), the parking lot on Xintiandi, Gangcheng (near Moli Road), and the parking lot on Xueronghua Road. There are approximately 3000 parking spaces in total.

Luggage Storage: The luggage storage area is located on the right side of the main entrance of the park. Large items are priced at 60 yuan per piece, while small items are priced at 50 yuan per piece.
Baby stroller rental: 60 yuan/car/day, deposit of 300 yuan; A single stroller costs 70 yuan per car per day, with a deposit of 200 yuan; A double stroller costs 90 yuan per car per day, with a deposit of 200 yuan. Vehicle weight limit standards: limited to 10kg for strollers, 25kg for single strollers, and 45kg for double strollers.
Wheelchair rental: Free rental, deposit of 300 yuan.
Toilets: There are multiple toilets in the park with clear signs.

Write at the end

At this point, the trip to Haichang Ocean Park has basically come to an end. In summary, it was truly a fulfilling day, watching several theaters and experiencing different projects. Although there are still a few who haven't had time to experience it, overall I am very satisfied with this place. Ocean Park is a place worth bringing children to, and it's really great to have fun and education while playing.

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