Family Membership

Today the boys had a snow day, due to the couple inches of very wet snow that fell between yesterday afternoon and this morning. It's the most snow that has been on the ground in Shanghai in fourteen years, and with no snow removal equipment, the city was in a tizzy trying to clear snow with garden shovels and brooms. With this unplanned day off, we decided to gather some friends and go to the aquarium. It is a beautiful aquarium here in Pudong, just a few minutes from our house.

The girls and I first visited the aquarium early last fall, and I remembered from that visit that it was a bit pricey. I decided I would buy a membership today if they were available. I have found museum memberships to be a terrific deal in the past, usually they are more than paid for after only two visits. I've loved the freedom of feeling like we can go for an hour if we want to, not needing to stay and "get our money's worth" like I would if I had just paid for the day. I asked about it at the ticket window outside the aquarium. It took a minute for the clerk to understand (I think she was phased by the fact that I had told her I was there with seven children, whom I had sent inside to wait for me) my question, and she had to consult with another clerk, who also had a limited understanding of English. She asked how many children I had- she couldn't imagine that the seven I had brought with me were all mine. When I told her I had four children, she told me what the aquarium membership covered.

Want to guess how many admissions a family membership to the Shanghai Aquarium covers? Unlimited admission for one year for.... two adults and one child, of course. After all, that's what Chinese families are made of.

I paid for daily admission for one adult, seven children. Thank you very much.