Watch a full video of our skydive below
If you’re partial to an adrenaline rush, but jumping out of planes isn’t your bag, you’ll be glad to hear there’s a skydive simulator in town aiming to give you an idea of the thrill while (hopefully) never getting you more than a few feet off the ground.
The wind tunnel, made by Aerodium, can be found in the middle of The Hub, an immaculate shopping development next to Hongqiao Railway Station. It’s in Shanghai as part of an ‘Open Air Festival’ - there’s a handicraft fair, outdoor cinema and ‘rainbow castle’ - but it seems the wind tunnel is the main draw here, with occasional performances by pros too.
Despite definitely not being pros, we tried out the tunnel for ourselves. Here's how it went:
First off, instructors will get you into the gear, with jumpsuits ranging from cool all-black numbers to clown costumes (as you can see in the video below, we ended up in the latter). They also provide a helmet and earplugs, which is good, because anyone who’s been near a wind turbine will know that things can get pretty loud.
Up next is the instruction session. Don’t think that this is just an obligatory health and safety talk either; technique is crucial if you’re going to make the most of your short time in the tunnel. In other words, you actually have to pay attention. The instructors are as friendly and enthusiastic as you would expect from people who literally fly for a living, and we feel in safe hands.
When the instructor first looks us up and down he says, ‘You’re big. Our fan is quite small’. Ah. He seems positive, however, and gives us some extra positioning tips to help get off the ground. We then have the group stretch, something that not only provides mirth to some on-looking construction workers but is also the closest we have yet come to being part of an ayi guangchangwu dancing troupe.
Then it was down (or up) to business. After watching a dozen or so people being fairly successful at staying afloat, in we go. Unfortunately, most of our two minutes are spent being repeatedly flung out of the wind and onto the surrounding padding, which is thankfully still pretty fun. It transpires we weren’t paying enough attention in the training session, as we were both looking down (a no-no) and ‘trying to fight it’ (a bigger no-no). The pro’s advice: relax, don’t fight it, and don’t begin to think you are skilled enough to control yourself in the air. Eep.
Thankfully, the instructor (still probably high on endorphins) lets us have another go. This time we perform better, letting our arms and legs flail in the wind like a giant rag doll with drool sliding up our face in joy. It’s definitely more fun, however we still struggle to get anywhere near as much ‘mad air’ as the pros, who show off their skills for our camera afterwards.
At 1-2 minutes of diving for 78-128RMB, it’s not the best value adrenaline rush in town. But it’s surprising how exhausting such a short stint in the wind can be, and for that reason the time feels like enough.
Although it might be an exaggeration to say we were blown away, the wind (and drool) in your hair and customary high-fives afterwards contribute to a rush of elation. While this tunnel is small and temporary, hopefully it’ll be successful enough to convince someone to build a permanent wind tunnel in the city - something we’d certainly be a big fan of.