The third largest in China, Chongming Island has been around for over 13 centuries and the years have seen its land area ebb and flow with the tides. However, its proximity to Shanghai has always ensured it was inhabited and able to participate towards history as time moved on. Accordingly, there are important landmarks and attractions on the island for visitors to see while they enjoy the soothing greenery of the man-made forest.
The 1,300 sq kms island is connected to mainland with bridges and highways and there is regular bus service going in between. Taking a car or taxi straight to the island from downtown Shanghai will take over an hour with a distance of 50kms between the two. However, public transport options can be availed when subway and local buses are used in combination. After arriving at Shanghai Science and Technology Museum station by line 2, visitors can take line 2 of the Shenchong bus available near exit 6 of the subway station which goes to the terminal station on the island.
Work has already begun in December 2019 on Dongtan metro station on Chongming island, which will plug in the island to the rest of Shanghai’s metro system. The attractions on the island are reasonably charged between RMB10 – RMB80 and timings for these are between 08:30 to 17:00. Certain amenities are free for guests of resorts while others maybe discounted.
Attractions on the island include Chongming Academy, one out of three Confucian Temples which is now a museum showcasing heritage of Chongming and paying homage to the great philosopher. Shou’an Temple is a Song era Buddhist temple with all the bells and whistles of excellent architecture. Entry to both is for RMB10.
There are 4 villages which enshrine the culture and lifestyle of the villagers of Chongming namely Gaojiazhuang, Qianwei, Jiangnan Sanmin Cultural village (entrance to the three at RMB60 each) and Yingdong village (RMB20).
Dongtan (RMB50 weekdays; RMB80 on weekends) and Xisha (free entry) are the two wetland parks with plenty of birds, bees, flowers and trees to mix with the lakes and reed marshes and provide breath-taking sunset views.
Pearl lake (RMB45), close to Xisha wetlands, is the largest natural lake which has been beautified with flowers along a bridge and rare breeds of trees to make an enchanting atmosphere.
Danyuan Garden and Ruihua Orchard (RMB50) bring color to the landscape and more areas like these are in the process of being developed for the China Flower Expo in 2021 that will be held on Chongming as it makes way to becoming a world-class ecological island.
But the crown jewel of Chongming is the Dongping National Forest Park (RMB75 entry) with artificially transplanted trees and flowers and diverse flora and fauna at the heart of the island which has activities like golf, tennis, rock climbing, cycling and even a zip-line through the forest. Tourists can stay in resorts at the island over a weekend getaway and have plenty to occupy every second of their time!