Beyond flower viewing and sea gazing, Qingdao finally has a great spot for kid-friendly outings – fun, playful, and packed with cool tech, simply brilliant!

As April deepens, it feels like the brilliant spring is about to slip through our fingers, and my long-dormant little one just can’t contain her urge to play, so this old mother decided to take her out for a stroll.

A toddler’s routine doesn’t match an adult’s—while the warm sun is at its best, she’s still sound asleep. When we finally manage to get out the door, after a short romp she’s already getting drowsy. Add the weight-testing Qingdao spring breeze, and I resolutely ditched any plan to see the sea. As for flower viewing, Qingdao’s streets and alleys are already blanketed in blossoms; a walk around the neighborhood is plenty. Since we were making a rare trip out, it had to be somewhere fresh and exciting.

Recently, while driving, I heard on the radio about a place called “Hisense Science Exploration Center” on Jiangxi Road. They said it has a science museum, a nature museum, a history museum, and even some hi-tech wizardry. Age three is prime learning time, and play should still have substance, so I decided this weekend we’d head there. After buying tickets and making a reservation through the scenic area’s WeChat official account, off we went!

Hisense Science Exploration Center is at No. 11 Jiangxi Road, Shinan District – the old Hisense R&D site. It’s super close to The Mixc and Taidong, so you can easily grab a meal or go shopping after playing. The campus has plenty of parking, so no worries about finding a spot or getting a ticket. You can also take the subway easily: Line 2 to Zhiquan Road, Exit B, walk straight, then turn right at the intersection and go another two or three hundred meters.

The center grounds are large and very clean. Epidemic prevention is still strict; I heard they’re limiting visitors and strictly controlling numbers each day. You must reserve in advance to visit. Before entering the venue, we also had infrared temperature check, a security scan, disinfection (they were really thorough – even our shoe soles didn’t escape, haha), and a second forehead thermometer check. The ticket exchange was quick, with no crowding or queues. Seeing all this, even my mother-in-law who came along set aside her worry about getting infected in an enclosed space, and she felt reassured about my choice.

Also, for those who haven’t come yet, consider taking the subway, walking, or bus – show the payment receipt to staff and you can get a discount on tickets. We were two adults and a child, and bought a family ticket for 388 yuan. Since we drove, no discount. (Sob, next time this old mother will definitely haul the kid here by subway – low-carbon travel, hehe~)

The center is huge, four floors in all. On the first floor, beyond the ticket exchange lobby, there are three main zones: the World of Display (that’s where the hi-tech display stuff is), part of the Discovery Gallery (including the Water Science Station and Smart Transportation Area), and the World Consumer Electronics Museum plus the Hisense History and Culture Hall.

The World of Display currently has an environmental science exhibition. You can also take a quiz at the lobby while visiting, and we tried it with our little one. She answered correctly and got an “Eco-Champion” certificate – the first certificate in her life (besides her birth certificate, ha). The staff said if you take a photo with the certificate and share it on WeChat Moments for likes, you can get a mug. The activity is pretty fun. Anyone interested should come this month, because I heard the discount and environmental activities only run until the end of this month.

After the activity, we officially started our tick-off tour. Entering the galleries is easy – just face-scan or scan a code. The first and second floors house the Discovery Gallery, for kids 3–12; the third floor is the Explorer Gallery, more suited for middle-schoolers – the concepts were a bit tough for a three-year-old; the fourth floor Nature Exploration Hall (with an indoor mini-zoo, supposedly) was under renovation and not open yet. They say it’ll open around Labor Day, so we’ll come back then.

After strolling the whole place, I found that the Discovery Gallery was the best fit and favorite for a 3-year-old. The design is fresh, with creamy pink, blue, and green; kids love it, and my own adult heart melted too. My little one has been crazy about water play lately, so coming here was spot on – the Water Science Station let her play to her heart’s content. The area provides waterproof aprons, so no worry about wet clothes. Bubble machines, water channel projects, gentle streams… even now my child keeps clamoring to go back and play with water at Hisense Science Exploration Center, hahaha.

If you have a little boy, you must come – the Smart Transportation Area on the first floor has the real deal: a fire truck, farming machinery, an airplane… boys will absolutely lose themselves. We saw one little guy, eyelids drooping with sleepiness, still unwilling to leave the fire truck. Yup, true love for sure.

For a pure liberal-arts-minded mother like me, physics and all that is a bit tough. But after wandering through the Discovery Gallery, I got a bit hooked too – levers, the three primary colors of light, electronic sensors… Learning along with the kid, I gained new knowledge. Here, science concepts are woven into the exhibits, like the “Move the Earth” setup: kids try different rope positions and quickly learn that the longer the lever arm, the less effort needed. That’s probably what they mean by “real knowledge comes from practice.” Actually, whether my three-year-old grasps the principles wasn’t most important; what I noticed is her thirst for knowledge grew. At every exhibit, she would touch, look, and then ask me questions. Even though I couldn’t always answer on the spot (the pain of a liberal-arts mom…), I was so heartened by her curiosity. In learning, a temporary grade isn’t important; what matters is interest and curiosity. Kill curiosity, and a child loses the drive to learn. The philosophy here matches my education view: not making kids know, but making them want to know.

If you’re a science dummy like me, don’t worry – each exhibit has a QR code; scan it and you’ll get the answer. Enough to handle a kid’s questions. Haha.

The first two floors fit our child perfectly – playing with water, cars, moving the earth, the tilted house… two hours flew by. So for the third floor, we just did a quick walk-through, but the design still impressed me; the industrial vibe really appeals to me. The exhibit knowledge is pitched for older kids with some foundation; come here to do hands-on experiments, and classroom concepts suddenly feel simple. The descriptions beside the exhibits can even reference textbook chapters – yep, exam-prep students could review here. The association memory technique absolutely works. If I had run into a place like this back in the day, I’m sure I’d have been a science ace.

Tired from playing, we returned to the first floor. There’s 25+ Coffee (just east of the lobby), which has some light meals, pastries, drinks – all nicely done. You could even pop by for afternoon tea with your bestie sometime.

Back on the first floor, you can also end with a stroll through the World Consumer Electronics Museum. It’s quite interesting and the collection is comprehensive – TVs, fridges, air conditioners, washing machines. The TV section fascinated me most: besides the boxy TVs from memory, I had no idea there were spherical and helmet-shaped TVs decades ago. The coolest was a watch TV – I never imagined wearable tech like that existed so early. Very impressive and awesome; I love it.

We stayed at the venue from 1 p.m. right through to 5:30 p.m. closing time. My kid went in and out of the Discovery Gallery many times, and we still couldn’t drag her away; she didn’t want to leave even at closing. But this old mother is very happy, and I’ve already decided to get an annual pass so I can grant her wish to come back anytime.

Friends with some free time have been taking their kids around science museums, museums, and zoos in Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou. I’ve always wanted to take my little one out to broaden her horizons, but work is busy and time won’t allow it; I’ve long felt a bit guilty. After unearthing a gem like Hisense Science Exploration Center, I think without traveling far, I can still give my child a taste of poetry and distant lands.

Hisense Science Exploration Center – kid-friendly outings, right here!