China - Beijing and Shanghai with kids

Hi Everyone

I hope you can help me with some tips for our family vacation.

We are flying to Beijing on tuesday, landing wednesday august 1st. We are staying at Ascott Beijing.

Wednesday august 8th we are taking the train to Shanghai. Arriving in the morning august 9th. Staying at Eversunshine Hotel Shanghai.

Going back home on an afternoon flight from PVG on monday august 13th.


I'm travelling together with my wife and our 3 daughters. Our daugthers is 5, 11 and 11 years old.

We really haven't planned much. Only small thoughts about what we probably should see, like the great wall.

So please, any tips for stuff not to miss travelling with children. :)

Lots of things to do. Start by doing a google search on the terms "beijing" "kids" and take a look at some of what comes up on tips of how to do famous sites with kids, places and activities, etc. Some of the sites are from fellow visitors; others are geared to expat families but have a wealth of info. They say it better than I could. For something like the Great Wall, choosing Mutianyu with its opportunity to toboggan down is a no-brainer if you have kids along.

Pacing is key. And maybe having a morning session and and afternoon session for the "heavy" sightseeing, bracketing in mid-day by a lunch or a rest or swim or some sort of hands-on activity.

For Shanghai, similar. Shanghai doesn't have as many big tourist sights though. One thing they might enjoy a lot is a daytrip to a water town like Tongli, including a little boat ride through the town's canals. Tongli is close to Suzhou, which is itself only 45 min away from Shanghai by bullet train.

Lots of things to do. Start by doing a google search on the terms "beijing" "kids" and take a look at some of what comes up on tips of how to do famous sites with kids, places and activities, etc. Some of the sites are from fellow visitors; others are geared to expat families but have a wealth of info. They say it better than I could. For something like the Great Wall, choosing Mutianyu with its opportunity to toboggan down is a no-brainer if you have kids along.

Pacing is key. And maybe having a morning session and and afternoon session for the "heavy" sightseeing, bracketing in mid-day by a lunch or a rest or swim or some sort of hands-on activity.

For Shanghai, similar. Shanghai doesn't have as many big tourist sights though. One thing they might enjoy a lot is a daytrip to a water town like Tongli, including a little boat ride through the town's canals. Tongli is close to Suzhou, which is itself only 45 min away from Shanghai by bullet train.

The aquarium, overpriced or not, is my favorite tourist site in Shanghai. #2 is the Urban Planning Exhibition. Apart from that, simply walking around the French Concession is a good way to go.

If your daughters like theme parks, there is one in Beijing located on subway line 1, called Baijiao amusement park. However the park is located out in nowhere, but it is damn cheap. http://www.urbanrail.net/as/beij/beijing-map.htm

Ah well there are much better things to do in Beijing than heading for an amusement park, but then I like to head out to areas not mentioned in any guidebook... it also has a fake Disney castle.

The 5 yo may be a challenge, but IMO the 11 year olds should be fine with the usual set of sights in Beijing. Pacing as another said is right--just figure on stopping mid afternoon or having a long lunch/break in the hotel.

We were in both cities last month with an 8yo and we basically went to the normal sites and it wasn't a problem. (Although our daughter isn't whiny and likes to travel--if it were against her will then I could see the long walks in the forbidden city, summer palace, and houhai being trouble; we tell her if she whines, the next trip we'll go without her).

The 5 yo may be a challenge, but IMO the 11 year olds should be fine with the usual set of sights in Beijing. Pacing as another said is right--just figure on stopping mid afternoon or having a long lunch/break in the hotel.

We were in both cities last month with an 8yo and we basically went to the normal sites and it wasn't a problem. (Although our daughter isn't whiny and likes to travel--if it were against her will then I could see the long walks in the forbidden city, summer palace, and houhai being trouble; we tell her if she whines, the next trip we'll go without her).

This is the exact same strategy my parents played against me when I was a kid: argue with sister, then no Disney World... worked like a charm.

Ah well there are much better things to do in Beijing than heading for an amusement park, but then I like to head out to areas not mentioned in any guidebook... it also has a fake Disney castle.

Not sure why this amusement park in Beijing (http://tripologist.com/asia/wonderland-beijings-abandoned-amusement-park/) stopped
during the middle of construction. Maybe the land became too valueable
for a park or maybe they got sued by Disneyland.

In shanghai I would definitely recommend going to Yu Yuan garden and getting xiao long bao (soup dumplings) at the main restaurant in the center of the garden there! They have food for little kids there too. Also, a riverboat cruise on the huangpu river at night is a must. Adult beverages are served on most of them as well.

In shanghai I would definitely recommend going to Yu Yuan garden and getting xiao long bao (soup dumplings) at the main restaurant in the center of the garden there! They have food for little kids there too. Also, a riverboat cruise on the huangpu river at night is a must. Adult beverages are served on most of them as well.

You can avail of better/cheaper tangbao in other parts of town, and cross the river (in a boat) for a mere y2; the western side of SH (I'm loath to use the term "Puxi" because Yuyuan is in Puxi, but just go a bit further in) is far more interesting IMO. Most people would agree that even DTF (international chain) is superior to the Yu Garden place on the tangbao front. And, if you crave authentic tangbao, use google.