Shanghai Science & Technology Museum

Lonely Planet review

This impressive space-age building aims at providing a fun educational experience but ultimately disappoints. Kids will like the Light of Wisdom hall, with its hands-on science experiments, but in general non-Chinese speakers will find the lack of instructions and English text frustrating. Surprisingly there is nothing on Chinese science and technology (this is, after all, the land that brought us fireworks and the rudder).

The audiovisual rides (including an earthquake simulator) are fun but draw long queues and the rainforest display is full of fake plastic. The adults' enjoyment will also depend on their threshold for noisy groups of Chinese school kids.

IMAX films (tickets around Y30 -40; 45 minutes) show six times a day (book tickets in advance). When you need a break there's a good food court for lunch; get your hand stamped with a pass if you want to return to the exhibits.