Bored to Tears? Here’s Some Safe Suggestions for Family Fun

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It’s the beginning of Spring Festival and we hope our recommendations and insights are helping you and your family make the most of your time off during the Coronavirus outbreak. While parts of the city that we’d normally recommend for family-friendly fun have officially announced their closure, there are still some places left around Beijing where you can take the kids to have some safe fun.

It should be noted that if you will be partaking in any activities, it’s safe to assume that you may find yourself in a crowded area, and thus you should take an abundance of precautions to protect your family against a nasty virus infection. That means plenty of hand sanitizer, hand wipes, and protective masks to keep you free of germs. It’s also worth noting that some venues might  decide to close at the last minute. We recommend calling in advance to confirm.

Solana’s Outdoor / Indoor Rink

If you’ve ever been ice skating and thought to yourself, this is cool, but it would be a lot cooler if I were surrounded by neon lights, then Solana’s Outdoor Ice Skating Rink is for you. Tucked beneath the tropical trappings of their annual Light Festival, skaters can step outside the hustle and bustle of Beijing, and into a winter wonderland fit for Ice Kings and Queens.

If you’d rather opt for a more traditional setting, then Solana’s Indoor Rink has you covered. Located in Solana mall, this charming indoor rink is popular with families and even offers private lessons (in Chinese only) from national skating team coaches.

Outdoor: RMB 80 per person or RMB 120 for one parent and one child (Saturday and Sunday), RMB 50 (Monday-Friday). 10am-10pm. 6 Chaoyang Gongyuan Lu, Chaoyang District.

Indoor: Open year-round. Daily, 10am-9.30pm. RMB 50 for an hour and a half. Lessons cost RMB 135 for 40 mins. 1/F, Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park, 6 Chaoyang Gongyuan Lu, Chaoyang District.

Shichahai  (popularly known as Houhai)

Glide across the ice with hutong rooftops as your backdrop. Nothing else will ever give lifelong laowai skiers such a simultaneous taste of both home and abroad. The naturally frozen lakes of Qianhai, Houhai and Xihai are separated into a skating area and an ice carting area.

RMB 30 per hour, Sat-Sun RMB 35 per hour. 8.30am-8.30pm.  Qianhai, north side of Beihai Park, Xihai Beiyan, Xicheng District.

Snow Movies

Given the unpredictable and ever expanding scope of the coronavirus, we thought it necessary to offer some alternative indoor fun for those of you who would rather avoid crowds and hunker down at home. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of some snow-related movies so that you can enjoy the season, without the risk of getting sick.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – Although it’s not about snow in the strictest sense, it may be the most famous movie with snow in the title. Enjoy this beautifully animated classic with your family. Extra points if you can remember all the dwarfs’ names before re-watching!

Frozen – We’d probably lose quite a few younger readers if we didn’t include Frozen in this list. If you haven’t already seen Frozen 2, now is a perfect time to brush up on the first so you don’t miss any inside jokes and Easter eggs that show up in the second. Or, if you have recently seen Frozen 2, then go back and revisit the original! Maybe you’ll notice something you missed the first time around.

Ice Age – Luckily, in Beijing we only have to deal with icy temperatures for a few months out of the year. But imagine if we all lived in a perpetual frozen tundra. No, thank you. Even still, get a glimpse of that world with some whacky shenanigans to boot in Ice Age.

Snow Day – Though the previous three films are doubtlessly classics, Snow Day is not without its merits. After all, this movie has Iggy Pop. How many kids’ movies can say that?! Lest you’re worried that your children may try to hijack the city’s snowplows hoping to institute a forever-snow day, then we highly recommend enjoying this chuckle-fest with the whole family.

Photos: Pixabay, Wikipedia, eBay, Wikimedia, rogerebert.com, giphy, Mina Yan

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