The Worst and Best Things About Latitude Trampoline Park

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Due to Covid, my kid and my favorite trampoline park have been shut down for a while. With a day off of school and the weather forecast predicting rain last week, I decided to go check out another popular trampoline park in Shunyi: Latitude.

Shunyi parents are probably already familiar with this jumping ground, but lots of downtown parents may not have made the trip to this sprawling indoor playground. After all, it is a good 30 to 40-minute drive from Beijing's CBD, and with newer play areas such as Bom Bom Space closer to us, is Latitude still worth the visit?

Let's start with the not-so-good stuff.

Once upon a time, back when it first opened its doors in 2016, I imagine that Latitude must have been the go-to trampoline park. It has an international brand name and 5,000sqm of space that offers 10m-tall rock climbing walls, "spider web" tunnels, aerial obstacle courses, a variety of slides, a building block area, as well as a pretty generous trampoline play area.

But these days, the equipment and furnishing could use a little more TLC. The whole place smells ... ripe (the faint smells I could identify were pee and feet), and central heating seems non-existent. If you aren't moving the whole time, you're going to freeze. On a more serious note though, at least two trampolines I jumped on creaked and gave a little more than I would like. I also noticed a number of alarming holes and the beginnings of rust...

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The next sore point – they don't offer any food or drinks. There used to be a restaurant, which apparently shut down due to Covid. But to make up for that, the staff don't seem to have a problem if you bring food and drink into the park – which is a huge change from the intense scrutiny that we are subjected to at Bom Bom Space that prevents us from even carrying our water bottles in.

I have mixed feelings about Latitude's lackadaisical attitude on F&B though – because not everyone can/will avoid making a mess (which might explain the unusual aroma?). Also, this same attitude led the staff to allow a kid to climb the rock wall with the provided climbing shoes unlaced because they were too small – their rationale being that he wouldn't make it too far anyway (which, while true, is an appalling presumption to make about our kids, isn't it).

Having said all that, my kids had a pretty awesome time at Latitude. And I chalk it up to the very same thing that makes the place smell funky and that makes playing there straddle the line between carefree and careless: The fact that the staff there don't pay much attention means the kids get to play however they want! In other trampoline parks that I've been to, the staff usually watch you like a hawk, pouncing on you the moment you attempt something resembling unsafe – such as jumping on one foot – much less attempting a front flip.

So, if you have older or highly independent kids who need/want much less micromanagement, and who just want to play wild and free, Latitude is certainly the place for them. The three-hour ticket (RMB 268 for one adult + one child) was enough for us, but there's also a one-hour and full-day option if you want it. Remember to bring your own grippy socks or you'll pay RMB 20 for theirs.

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Images: Vivienne Tseng-Rush

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