I never thought Shanghai really had any decent parks. All of the parks I've been to in the French Concession in Puxi where a bit small, a bit too manicured, crowded, privately owned by hotels or you can't sit on the grass without a barraged of security guards blowing whistles at you. Recently, when I started training for the Great Wall Marathon, it was necessary to find a place with clean air to run for relatively long distances outdoors, so a group of us started going to Century Park (Shìjì Gōngyuán) in Pudong on Saturday mornings at 11am.  Firstly, the park charges 10 RMB to get in, which is great because it means that it never gets too busy and the park is well taken care of.

The largest park in Shanghai, a runner's loop of Century Park is somewhere between 4-6 kilometers depending on the route you take. The park's 140 hectares are landscaped with a combination of British, Japanese, and Chinese gardening styles--so there is everything from traditional Chinese gardens, to open grasslands, to forest areas to lakes and rivers.

Last Saturday, I went to the park for my morning run and had the entire park almost to myself. A field of yellow mustard-seed flowers were in bloom, as were cheery and plum blossoms and even violets. I was pretty blissed out. Century Park reminded me a bit of Stanley Park in Vancouver...and that is a very good thing.

Park Activities:

Boating: You can rent 4-seater motorboats at the park for 30 RMB per hour (100 RMB deposit) or 6-seater boats for 50 RMB per hour. The boats obviously don't go very fast, but, but if you pack a few beers, you can have your own little booze cruise on the lake and the river around the park.

Cycling cars:  You can also rent cycling cars which will seat from 4 to 6 people. These things also don't go high speeds, but can be a semi-lame way to get around the park.

Amusement park rides: One area of the park has children's rides. So if you've got kids, this is going to be where they might want to go.

Picnics: Obviously you have to take care of this yourself, bring a blanket, some wine and your favorite snacks. A lot of people seem to like to pitch day tents on the grass to keep out of the sun.

Running: Century Park is probably the best place to run in Shanghai as it provides cleaner air, a number of routes to choose from and a variety of scenery.

Concert stage: While I have never heard of a concert in the park, there is a concert stage that looks like it would be decent for summer concerts.

How to get there:

The best way to get to Century Park is by taking the metro. Take Metro Line 2 to Century Park Station and it's pretty much one hundred meters straight ahead from Exit  1 or 4. The park is also within walking distance of Shanghai Science and Technology Museum Station. From downtown Puxi, the trip out there will take about 30 minutes. Entrance to the park costs 10 RMB. Alternately, you can take a taxi. From People's Square, a taxi will cost around 40-50 RMB.

Opening Hours: 7:00 to 18:00

Map of Century Park from mappery.com.
Century Park photo from flickr.
Bottom three photos of Century Park by Shanghai Baby.