Use this Mini-App to Check Which Parks Are Open and Book Tickets

At last, the weather has turned, and staying indoors suddenly seems even less bearable.

Even with sporatic shut downs that happen from time to time around the city, with the Paralympics to end soon and issues with Covid only cropping up here and there, it's about time to venture out and enjoy the springtime.

There's no better way to experience the spring weather than by visiting a park, and there's a WeChat mini-app you can use to see which ones are open or have restrictions, as well as book spots or tickets to visit. To find the app, search official accounts for 畅游公园 chàngyóu gōngyuán. In the account, click "buy tickets" (购买门票 gòumǎi ménpiào) and you'll be presented with a list of 10 Beijing parks.

At publishing time, all ten of the listed parks (Yuyuantan park, Tiantan Park, Beihai Park, Fragrant Hills Park, Jingshan Park, Botanical Garden, Taoranting Park, Summer Palace, the Beijing Zoo, and Zhongshan Park) are open to the public.

The app does support online ticket booking, though we found that depending on the user it may require a Chinese ID number (身份证 shēnfèn zhèng). If that applies to you, you will need to lean on a Chinese friend to book tickets ahead of time. Otherwise, choose your preferred park, fill in your name, phone number, and day you're intending to visit.

A different prompt showing restrictions or requirements for each park will pop up before you can go in and book tickets, but each notice varies from the next. For instance, foreign visitors to Beihai Park are still required to call the park a day in advance to book their tickets (but only through the southern entrance, surprisingly), while others simply require that visitors wear masks when inside the park.

As a general rule of thumb, just make sure you've got a clear Health Kit before entering, and bring the same passport or ID you used to book the tickets with (if you used the Chinese friend's ID, bring them with you).

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Images: Uni Wander Travel (via Facebook), Vincent R. Vinci