[Family Travel]Fun for Kids: Taichung’s Huge Physical Activity Sandbox

Taichung’s parks are getting better and better lately. A few days ago, we visited the Ao-Feng-Shan Sports Park in Qingshui, which felt like being abroad. This week, we came to the “Shenkang Air Force Theme Park – Shenkang Zhenqian Ren’ai Park.” Both are great.

Shenkang Zhenqian Ren’ai Park is located near the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base. The nearby leisure plaza is already bustling, with small vendors setting up stalls. But as you turn the corner into Shenkang Zhenqian Ren’ai Park, you’re greeted with a sense of tranquility. The park’s theme is designed around an air force base concept, featuring three airplane models. There are multiple tarmac-like designs among the park facilities, and the large open plaza in front offers plenty of space for kids to practice rollerblading or skateboarding—many children were seen skateboarding and riding electric cars here.
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At the back, there’s an extensive ecological pond trail—an ideal spot for taking kids on exploratory walks. Some children were also seen riding electric cars along the path.

Since it was winter when we visited, no one was playing in the circular ditch. In summer, though, it gets quite crowded. We mainly focused on the sandbox play area this time. Though the park is quite large—with not just a sandbox, but also a water play zone and a dedicated play area for kids—we didn’t manage to take photos of those.

Though it lacked wooden stumps, it made up for it with climbing features and an extra tall, oversized slide. The entire area is covered in sand. In the afternoon, the sandbox was packed with kids. Aside from the air-raid shelter, there’s no shaded area here, so it can get quite hot in summer, and precautions against heatstroke for children are necessary.

Gong Shao said that when he was in the military, this was where they would crawl under for training. Now turned into a kids’ playground, it’s become a fantastic place for climbing.

Xiao Yuyuan is very afraid of heights, so while she loves climbing things like this, she’s also very timid—she can usually only climb halfway before wanting to come down. This time, I lay behind her, holding her bottom to help her climb up.

The climbing area isn’t very well designed—the rocks are spaced equally apart, which is too far for little kids and doesn’t offer much challenge.

The giant slide in this play area is really impressive. I’ve seen similar types of slides in many Japanese parks—super tall and steep, truly a test of children’s courage.

The three of us—mom and our two daughters—stood at the top deliberating for ages, but no one dared to go down first~~~ To be honest, I have a fear of heights too. Why are all the other kids having so much fun!?

In the end, Xiao Fen Yuan asked me to hold her and slide down together. After trying twice, she finally dared to go on her own.

Xiao Yuyuan, on the other hand, refused to slide with me no matter what=_=||. She climbed up several times, looked down, then decided not to go, and quietly walked back down the stairs. But later, after playing something else, she came back asking me to hold her again—and even wanted grandma to hold her while sliding.

Later, Xiao Yuyuan told me she wanted to try the rope climbing. Turns out, she expected me to carry her up!! Come on, you’re already 15 kg!! I had to support a heavy weight and pull her up. She moved super slowly, and I felt like I was basically training my own fitness. Several times, I felt like I couldn’t hold on anymore and was about to roll down with my daughter. But I couldn’t give up—if we rolled down, she’d never want to play with me again.

The climbing pole really brought back memories—I used to love playing on these during elementary school PE class. But now my shoulder is injured, so it’s not suitable for me. I was curious to see if the physically capable Xiao Fen Yuan could climb up—but she was completely immersed in the sandbox@@.
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The sandbox design resembles a big tree or perhaps the concept of an airplane runway. A large tree is planted in the center—I forgot the name of the tree species, but I think it’s meant to provide shade once it grows bigger. Its leaves are very tiny, and it’ll grow quite tall, but it probably won’t offer much actual shade. There are other play facilities nearby, but this sandbox alone is enough to keep kids entertained for a whole afternoon. We’ll come back on a nicer day to play here again.

Shenkang Zhenqian Ren’ai Park Address: No. 1652, Zhongshan Road, Shenkang District, Taichung City 429
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