We've had some good times at the Natural History Museum and the Yunnan Train Museum with our three year-old, but now that we have him with us 24-7, i was wondering if anyone else had some secret spots that kids enjoy and won't drive parents crazy.

The Science and Technology Museum is also very good (assuming it's open again)

www.gokunming.com/[...]

HeYe Shan is a forested mountain in Kunming which gets few visitors. Unfortunately the guards close access to it in the dry season, but come the rain it's a great place to explore with kids.

www.gokunming.com/en/listings/item/33854/lianhua-temple

A bit off-topic, but our soon-3-year old boy is easily entertained now with his mother starting to work, and the father (that being me) cutting back on work and giving him more opportunities to play with other children in the neighbourhood.

For some reason my wife has been reluctant to put herself in position where she would have to risk confrontations with the kid (come end of playtime), or the kid with his peers (over toys for example). So he hasn't spent much time with children other than those of few close friends of his mother.

I don't have as many such constrains. We just pack a couple of toys in a bag and go find some company - which is abundant now with older kids not attending kindergartens.

Trading toys with other children is great fun for him, as long as I keep eye on taking our own toys back.

Today we finally discovered that a nearby park with slides and other free plays is actually open - just the gate closest to us has remained locked, and we've been checking on it in vain for a couple of weeks already.

JanJal - nice report - thank you for the thoughts and suggestions. I normally don't like our kids sharing toys with strangers as little kids tend to be walking bags of germs...some germier than others...but teaching sharing...that's pretty solid...