Happy Valley Shanghai

Happy Valley Shanghai (上海欢乐谷, Shànghǎi Huānlè Gǔ) is a large amusement park in the Sheshan National Tourist Resort, in Songjiang District, about 40 kilometres southwest of downtown Shanghai. It opened on 16 August 2009. Where Shanghai Disneyland is built around characters and shows, Happy Valley is mainly a ride park.

The park belongs to the Happy Valley chain, and Shanghai’s was the fourth to open. It was built by Shanghai OCT (上海华侨城), the local arm of the group that runs the chain. Its area is given as 863,500 square metres by English Wikipedia and as about 900,000 square metres by Chinese Wikipedia, so expect to walk a lot: this is a park of several hours at least, and usually a full day.

Happy Valley is laid out as seven themed areas, among them Gold Mine Town, Shanghai Beach and Shangri-la, with more than 100 attractions in total. English Wikipedia names them Sunshine Beach, Happy Times, Typhoon Bay, Gold Mine Town, Ant Kingdom, Shanghai Beach and Shangri-la Woods; the Chinese article lists a sea-themed area (欢乐海洋) where the English one has Ant Kingdom, so names may have changed over the years. The large rides include a wooden roller coaster (谷木游龙), a log flume (激流勇进), a mine-train coaster through a mock mine (矿山历险) and a floorless dive coaster (绝顶雄风).

The park sits in the same resort area as the hills of Sheshan, so it can be combined with a visit to Sheshan Basilica if you start early, though most people give Happy Valley the whole day.

Getting there: the nearest metro station is Sheshan on Line 9, roughly a half-hour walk from the park by our automatic estimate. Practical notes: opening hours, ticket prices and seasonal closures change through the year, so check the official Happy Valley site before you go.