2-Hour Drive from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai: 3 Kid-Friendly Destinations

🌿 Beautiful Scenery and Fewer Crowds
(For moms with two kids who are afraid of summer crowds, this is a tried-and-tested way to take your kids out without stress👩👧👦)

❶ Huzhou: Giraffe Manor
🦒 Transportation: 1.5-hour drive from Hangzhou/Take a high-speed train from Shanghai to Huzhou Station + 30-minute taxi ride
✅ Stress-Free Experience:
→ Have breakfast with giraffes (CNY 30/basket of carrots, enough to feed giraffes for an hour)
→ Petting zoo (CNY 10/bag of feed, staff can help take photos)
→ Unlimited rides on the jungle coaster (children over 1.2 m can ride alone)

🏡 Accommodation:
✔️ Treehouse in the manor (includes petting zoo experience + afternoon tea)
✔️ Miaoshan Homestay (8-minute drive, rice paddy pool, CNY 150 per person)

🍜 Dining Guide:
▶ Buffet in the manor (free for children, giraffe-shaped buns)
▶ Miaoxi Town Pancakes (CNY 4 each, with dried plum and pork filling, great for snacks)

💡Fun Fact: Collect animal stamps on a task card from the service center to exchange for a giraffe headband

❷ Ningbo: Dongqian Lake
🚣 Transportation: 2-hour high-speed train from Shanghai to Ningbo Station + CNY 30 taxi ride
✅ Stress-Free Package:
→ Water park kayaking (CNY 80/hour for a two-person boat, 3-year-olds can sit in the middle)
→ Treasure hunt at the Southern Song Dynasty Stone Carving Park (CNY 10 for a map to find zodiac stone statues)
→ Ride a tandem bike at Xiaoputuo (CNY 30/hour, coffee shops along the lake can babysit your kids)

🏡 Accommodation:
✔️ Cordis Hotel (includes children's adventure pack + pool toys)
✔️ Hanling Blossom Hill (koi pond in the courtyard, includes fish feed)

🍜 Food:
▶ Hanling Old Street Sixteen Wonton (CNY 15 for shrimp wonton, freshly made)
▶ Chi Nei Restaurant (Dongqian Lake snails with rice buns, so delicious that kids will eat them)

⚠️Avoid: Don't rent electric boats in the scenic area! There's nothing on the island except reeds

❸ Changzhou: Maoshan Forest World
🌳 Transportation: 1-hour drive from Nanjing/Take a high-speed train from Suzhou to Liyang Station + bus
✅ Energy-Draining Activities:
→ Feed deer in the magic forest (CNY 15 for feed, the deer will bow)
→ Grass skiing on the green meadow (CNY 10/ride, gentle slope suitable for children over 5)
→ Parent-child theater in the forest (2 pm show, actors interact with the audience)

🏡 Accommodation:
✔️ Starry Sky Dome House (firefly watching + telescope)
✔️ Tea Field Tent (includes tea-picking experience, take home a self-made tea can)

🍜 Mountain Delicacies:
▶ Forest Restaurant (CNY 68 for chestnut chicken, freshly picked chestnuts)
▶ Xiangu Village Tofu Workshop (CNY 5 for unlimited soy milk refills, kids love the fried dough sticks)

💡Fun Fact: Collect five types of leaves in a plant specimen box from the service center to exchange for a succulent plant

📌 Mom's Tips
🔸 Bring a foldable stroller! Renting a stroller in the scenic area costs CNY 50/hour
🔹 Dress your kids in bright colors! Easy to spot if they get lost in the forest
🔸 Bring 5 sets of clothes (playing with water and feeding animals can get messy)
🔹 Choose train cars 13-15 (near the luggage area, convenient for strollers)

(After being pushed on stage by my child to play a tree in the forest theater, I realized that the ultimate stress-free experience is letting your kids have fun on their own!)

💬"What other kid-friendly destinations with beautiful scenery and fewer crowds are there in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai? Moms, let's help each other out!"