A Journey to the Westpuppet show

Nothing is more relaxing for city dwellers in Shanghai than escaping for a pleasant spring weekend in the suburbs, and no better place within the municipality offers such a variety of natural beauty and man-made amusements than Qingpu district.

Qingpu is the westernmost district of Shanghai, adjacent to Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. The area is centered around Dianshan Lake, which feeds a number of nearby water towns and tourist scenic areas, including a 1,300-acre forest. It is here that the Sun Foot Forest Festival was recently held, giving expats and locals alike a much-needed opportunity to imbibe the clear lakes and fresh air not typically found in the city center.

It was a cloudy Saturday when this reporter attended the festival, held by the Shanghai Study Culture Research Centre, an organization providing cultural education and exploration events. The forest's boundless trees silhouetted against the milky morning mist as the usual city cacophony of car horns had given way to a symphony of bird song. How sweet it was to the ears.

Within the depths of this lush forest hid a small playground, where several children played delightedly while their accompanying parents lazed nearby, free of the usual worry of reckless traffic. One little boy was racing a toy car through the grounds. His mother, Farhat Ayesha, the acting Pakistan Consul General in Shanghai, was chillaxing on a bench.

Having worked and lived in the city center for a number of years, Ayesha said she loves to experience Shanghai's natural side whenever she can.

"I've attended many interesting events organized by Shanghai Study, such as last year's Peach Blossom Festival," she told the Global Times. "Out here I can smell the fresh air and the fragrance of leaves. For me, the festival is a very pleasant break."

Elsewhere on the amusement grounds there was a small wooden table where five little girls and their mothers were playing with clay, one of the park's many diversions for youngsters. Six-year-old Yiyi and her mother had just finished sculpting a small panda, an octopus and a bouquet of flowers.

"I'm happy that I can spend the day doing some handicrafts together with my daughter, and in such a beautiful place," said Yiyi's mother, surnamed Lin. She said she and her husband are so busy with work that they don't often have the opportunity to play with their daughter.

Around 1 pm, when the morning clouds had finally parted way and the spring sun glinted through the leaves, visitors gathered around a makeshift stage in anticipation of the festival's main events. A Journey to the Westpuppet show introducing the classic Chinese fairy tale to the children kicked things off, followed by a Peking Opera performance Shajiabang, retelling the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45) for adult attendees.

"Sun Foot Forest Festival can be a nice opportunity for foreign families to experience the charm of Chinese countryside culture without actually leaving Shanghai," Chen Jie, founder of Shanghai Study Culture Research Centre, told the Global Times.

Living in Shanghai for two years, British expat Eleanor Jones came to the festival with her 8-month-old daughter to experience the festival's cultural attractions. But like many other foreign visitors that day, Jones did not follow the Peking Opera performance.

Instead, she and her daughter ducked out for a stroll through the forest. "The activities are too crowded, but the walks and the gardens impress me a lot," she said.