The first ever-international trip we took after having kids was when our first-born son was just over a year old. An opportunity allowed our family to go together to China so we decided to go. Needless to say, we were nervous traveling with a one-year-old child half way across the earth.
Our trip was almost two weeks long and we spent most of our time in Shanghai and Beijing. Overall, it was an interesting and fun trip.
Our Top 5 Tips for Travel with Kids to China:
#1 Understand the length of the journey
If you are traveling from North America, getting to Mainland China is a long journey, if your kids don’t do well on planes, 15+ hours of actual flight time might not be the best idea. We are blessed that our kids do relatively well on long flights and travel in general but that is not the case for everyone.
#2 Prepare and pack well
Pack plenty of your children’s favorite snacks, formula milk and baby food (if using) and over the counter children’s medications (in case your child gets sick), its not a given you will be able to find an exact match for these types of things and its not always easy to figure out equivalent, local substitutes. We had calculated out the exact number of formula milk bottles and baby food we would likely need to pack as efficiently as possible and it definitely helped make the trip smoother.
#3 Food in China
Authentic Mainland Chinese food is quite different from what most people around the globe (especially Western world) are familiar with. Western Chinese food tends to be sweeter, saucier and stir fried, Mainland Chinese food is more often boiled, steamed or baked. The flavors and even texture of the food can vary significantly. At times it was also difficult to understand what kind of meat and other ingredients were in the dish so if anyone in your travel party have any dietary constraints, opting to eat at global franchise food chains like KFC or McDonald’s could be a good option (especially for children). We found excellent restaurants from other cuisines such as Turkish, Indian/Pakistani and even American/Western style Chinese food so that is an option as many foreigners reside in big commerce cities like Shanghai.
#4 Chinese local culture/norms
Our experience interacting with locals was positive, however there are differences in cultural norms to be aware of. One thing in particular that we noticed is that if you are walking around local market, parks etc. with a stroller (clearly indicating you have a young child), locals will come up and surround you to have a peek at the child and even take pictures (often without asking for permission). We never felt that it was for any other reason but genuine curiosity and excitement of seeing a young child (perhaps also because we were clearly foreign), however this was not something we were used to so felt uncomfortable at times (especially the first couple of times it happened). Many large Chinese cities are crowded and with these types of different cultural norms so its important to be familiar especially when traveling with children.
#5 Visit the Great Wall of China
China is a fascinating country with lots to see (will be covered in another post), however if there is one thing you should experience, it’s a trip to the Great Wall of China. With a young child, it was tempting to use the chair lift/cable car option to get to the top end of the Great Wall, however, we opted to do the walk up to the top and it was one of the most amazing experiences in all of our years of travel. If you have baby or young toddler, a carrier such as this one, is an absolute must have: https://amzn.to/3bkx1Wn
Give yourself time without trying to rush up to the top of the Wall and take lots of memorable pictures!