China - a few questions
Hi everyone,My husband and I along with our almost 2 year old (at the time of travel) are heading to Beijing and Hong Kong in August of this year.
Just a couple of queries that I have found answers to in past posts.
1. Jinshanling (Great Wall). If we take the cable car up and put the little fella in a baby carrier on my husband's back are we going to be able to walk much of the wall? Or is this just being too optimistic?
2. The T Hotel in Hong Kong. I'm reading great stuff on Trip Advisor, but was wondering if anyone on here had stayed?
3. Are we going to be able to head to the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace by ourselves rather than in a tour group?
We're planning on at least a 1/2 day at each but have no real timeframes. I'm finding that all the available tours want to cover about 3 places in one day which we aren't keen on, and our travel agent is telling us that we need to book a tour to ensure we can get in??
4. Prams in Beijing. Worth the bother or not? Has anyone been to the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, etc with one?
5. Can anyone recommend a Chinese opera that would accept small children in the audience? I can only seem to locate shows suitable for older kids and adults.
Thanks for your help - it is very much appreciated.
(I have also posted this on the China branch as well.)
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Hi Tammy13,although we went to China back in 2007 we did go with our 2yr and 4yr at the time. So I will share what I can of our experience:
we hired a car with driver from our hostel to go to the Mutianyu section of the wall. It took about ah hour and a half to drive there from central Beijing and we left approx 6.30am therefore beating all the tours and crowds and walked up onto the wall not seeing another person ... at least for 30 minutes after which tour buses and crowds arrived. It was a magical 30 minutes. We had the 2yr old in a baby carrier on my husbands back and it was no problem. Our 4 yr old walked for a good 2 hours or so, stopping every now and then in the shade of the 'towers' for food and drink. We then took the toboggan down which was a blast and easy with the children. We had the driver pick us up from there and had arranged to have lunch at the lovely Schoolhouse at Mutianyu.
Forbidden city/summer palace - we did by ourselves purely because we like to have the flexibility to stop and start when we like and to cater for the children - so I would def. recommend not to take a tour - really not necessary at all - there is a lot to take in but really how much info can you retain when on a tour and juggling a 2 yr old. I prefer to read myself before,, during and after instead at my pace.
We spent easily a half day at forbidden city.
Prams - we did take a lightweight stroller - good and bad. Good for when little one fell asleep but bad as there are so many steps and lips of doorways to carry it over, but on the whole I am happy we had it.
Sorry can't help you with China opera.
Hong Kong - sorry don't know of the T Hotel - we stayed at the Salisbury YMCA hotel and were more than happy with location and facilities.
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Just thought I'd provide an update of our trip for anyone else out there that is wondering about travel to China with a toddler.We ended up getting a private guide and car and heading to the Mutianyu section of the wall. I'm glad we did because after checking out more of Jinshanling it would have been too tricky with a toddler that doesn't listen to instructions well and has a tendancy to try and run off all the time!
At Mutianyu we had our son in a backpack with a tail on it so we could hang on to him but still give him some freedom. We also ended up carrying him a fair bit as well.
The wall was excellent and if anyone is looking for a private guide in Beijing send me a message - we had an awesome one that was able to adapt to our sons needs.
We took the stroller and I'm g;ad we didn. Our son is a big boy and would have broken my back if I had to carry him everywhere.
Down side is that to get itno the subway and to most attractions there are a hell of a lot of stairs that you need to carry the stroller down, up and over. this is OK if ther are 2 of you to do this, not so good if you are on your own.
In Beijing we went to an acrobatic show which our son was enthralled with.
We went to the Summer Palace by ourselves and had a great time, we went there via subway which we found really use and a cheap way to get around.
We did end up getting a private tour guide for the Forbidden City, but once we got there we realised this wasn't necessary.
