Water Parks in China: The 10 Worth Traveling For

When water parks in China are open

Most outdoor water parks in China open between late May and mid-June and close at the end of August, when the school holidays end. Beijing’s Maya Beach ran 93 days in 2026, from May 30 to August 30. Southern parks start earlier: Chimelong in Guangzhou opened its 2026 season on April 17. Indoor, heated parks such as the Water Cube in Beijing and the Sunac water worlds run all year.

July and August weekends are the peak. Lines for the headline slides run long by late morning, so arrive at opening or come for the evening sessions many parks add in summer. Opening dates and hours are announced each spring on the parks’ WeChat accounts and the Trip.com and Meituan ticket pages, almost always in Chinese only.

1. Chimelong Water Park in Guangzhou

Chimelong Water Park, in the Chimelong resort in Panyu district on Guangzhou’s southern edge, is the busiest water park in the world. The TEA Global Experience Index ranked it first again in 2024 with 2.81 million visitors, ahead of Aquaventure World in Dubai and Therme Erding in Germany, and its operator says it has topped the list every year since 2013.

It has more than 70 water attractions. The 2025 additions are the ones to queue for: the Storm Double Cannon, two 18-meter funnels joined by a transparent tube and launched from a 33-meter tower; the Sky Surge twin boards; and the Magnetic Cannon water coaster, which uses electromagnetic launches to push rafts to 48 km/h along a 440-meter track. In 2026 the park split into five themed zones (Southeast Asia, Western Europe, the Amazon, Latin America and Hawaii), each with its own shows, and runs a water EDM festival on summer nights.

The resort is easy to reach on Metro Line 7 but hard to navigate in English once inside: ticketing, locker systems and show schedules are Chinese-first. Families making a full day of it often book a private guided Guangzhou tour so someone else handles the tickets, transport and the questions at the gate.

2. Water Cube water park in Beijing

The National Aquatics Center from the 2008 Olympics, better known as the Water Cube, runs an indoor water park on the building’s basement level at 11 Tianchen East Road, on the Olympic Green. It covers about 20,000 square meters with ten main attractions and more than 20 slides, including the Deep Sea Tornado and a wave pool. Because it is indoors and heated, it is the one water park in Beijing that works in winter.

The building is still a competition venue (it hosts the World Aquatics short-course swimming championships on December 1-6, 2026), so check that your date is open to the public before you go.

3. Maya Beach Water Park in Beijing

Beijing’s outdoor Maya Beach is the city’s big summer park: 26 slides, 35 water attractions in all and a wave pool of nearly 10,000 square meters. It is strictly seasonal. The 2026 season ran from May 30 to August 30 under a “wild man island” theme.

4. Maya Beach Water Park in Shanghai

Shanghai’s Maya Beach, next to Happy Valley in Songjiang district, covers 20 hectares, roughly 28 soccer fields, with more than 40 large rides. The draw is a wave pool of tens of thousands of square meters, upgraded for 2026 into a twin-wave “surf beach”. The 23-meter-wide Super Horn funnel and the twin-track Bumble Bee water coaster are the classic rides. It opened for 2026 on June 14. It is one of the better amusement parks in Shanghai for a summer day.

5. Tangshan Happy Water World in Nanjing

The park this page used to call the Nanjing Happy Magic Water Cube has been renamed Tangshan Happy Water World (汤山欢乐水世界). It sits in the Tangshan hot-spring resort in Jiangning district, east of central Nanjing, and opened its 2026 season on June 19 with a night-lit lazy river and a character parade. Tangshan is a hot-spring town, so it pairs naturally with an overnight stay.

6. Maya Beach Water Park in Wuhan

Wuhan’s Maya Beach opened its 2026 season on June 13. It runs the chain’s Super Horn funnel alongside a giant-octopus racing slide and a temple maze for younger children, which matters in a city Chinese travelers still call one of the country’s summer furnaces.

7. Forest Water World in Suzhou

The water park of Suzhou Amusement Land is now Forest Water World, part of a complex with Forest World, Candy World and a shopping street. It opened for 2026 on June 19 with more than ten headline rides and the Waterpop wave-pool music season, run on two stages. It is an easy add-on to a day in Suzhou from Shanghai.

8. Sunac Water World in Wuxi

Wuxi’s Sunac Water World is fully indoor and temperature-controlled, which makes it a safe bet when Jiangsu’s summer storms close the outdoor parks. Its 2026 summer program started on May 29. Wuxi is under an hour from Shanghai by high-speed rail.

9. Sunac Water World in Chongqing

Chongqing’s Sunac Water World mixes heated indoor halls with outdoor pools, so it is one of the few options in a city where July afternoons can pass 40°C. The 2026 summer festival opened on May 22.

10. Caribbean Water World in Yangzhou

Yangzhou’s Caribbean Water World covers 67,000 square meters, larger than most parks on this list, and opened for 2026 on June 18. It is a worthwhile detour for anyone already visiting Yangzhou’s gardens or the canal towns of central Jiangsu.