6 weeks China with a 18-months-old kid

Hello China fans!

We seek for some advise regarding our trip to China in March next year. We will be heading to Beijing mid March and will fly out (also from Beijing) in the end of April. There is three of us, one couple and our 18-months-old to be kid.

Here our wishes: For obvious reasons, we prefer longer stays in few places rather than rushing from town to town with our daughter. We also prefer riding trains than long distance buses and preferably opt for shorter rather than longer distances. We'd like too to avoid big cities and spend more time in the countryside for a more pure air. BUT here we are also restricted about the range of outdoor activities because our kid. As March and April are likely to be pretty cold, we might go better to the south, I guess.

Our itinerary is still not fixed, we have thought of following:

• Beijing: 7 days
• Xian: 3 days
  --Between Beijing and Xian we are not sure about Datong and Pingyao -which are quite far from each other- Is it worth to go there? Remember we are going with a small kid and would like to avoid hopping between different places for less than 3 nights--
• Yangshuo: 10 days
• Dragon bone terraces: 3 days (is it advisable to head there early April? Is rice has been planted then? Acc. to LP it is better to avoid this area in early spring due to fog)
• Fly or overnight train to Kunming: 3 days
• Dali: 5 days
• Lijiang and surrounding area: 10 days including excursions
• Tiger leaping gorge: As we are quite restricted due to our kid, is it advisable to go there? I feel insecure due to LP statements "it is not for the lighthearted" and "several people -including tourists- have died in the gorge" Would you reccommend to go there just for the overnight at one of the guesthouses?

I would be great to get some feedbacks over there that help us deciding where it is proper and not to go. Thanks for your help!

PS: I have also posted this in kids to go

We were in China two years ago at the end of March and the beginning of April with our two kids, then ages 7 and 10.

It was very cold and windy in Beijing, and we needed hats and gloves. The southern area of the country was indeed much warmer.

We really enjoyed Datong, and I wish that we had stayed there longer. The city was undergoing a major change during our visit--lots of new roads and hundreds of trees being planted. The two main reasons why we went there were the Hanging Temple and the Yungang Caves. Both were excellent sites. The Yungang Caves were splendid, with all the carved Buddha figures. Truly remarkable. The caves are just a short drive from Datong. The Hanging Temple is a longer drive--over an hour, and it was well worth seeing. The only concern I would have with the Temple is your child's safety; the structure is embedded into the side of a cliff, and there are many narrow steep stairs and huge gaps in the wooden railings (the drop is considerable). If you have your child in a backpack carrier, it may be fine. We also liked Datong because it was a bit off the "beaten path" for most Western tourists. We don't speak Chinese and ended up eating at a restaurant where the servers did not speak English--a very memorable experience (in a positive way) in ordering food and trying to convey what we wanted.

We loved our time in the rural area outside of Yangshuo, next to the Yulong River. We hiked up into the karst mountains and walked along the rice paddies next to the river, where there were water buffalo. Very relaxing.

We had planned to go to the Dragon Bone Terraces, but we changed our plans based on the experience of other travelers staying at our inn near Yangshuo. They had just come from there (in early April), and they said that the fog was so thick that they couldn't see anything after hiking to the top of the hill. The drive would have been several hours there for us on a day trip, so we didn't think that it was worth it for the children to be in a car that long. However, if we had had the luxury of a few extra days, where we were planning to stay near the Terraces for several nights, we may still have made the journey.

We spent 3 nights in Lijiang, but we did not go to Tiger Leaping Gorge (we had already had a long day of hiking with the kids on HuaShan near Xi'an and were looking for different experiences as a balance). Lijiang was also undergoing major changes, with lots of new construction in the Old Town area. My advice there is to venture off on the side streets away from the main tourist area. Lots of beautiful spots tucked away.

Good luck with your journey! Sounds like it will be a great adventure!

Hello,we spent 6 weeks in China a few years ago with our 5 children,we were there in Dec/Jan,I think I did post a travel report so just google callous and it should come up.We really enjoyed getting out around Lijiang,we did Tiger Leaping Gorge,it's not for the fainthearted and I am terrified of heights which I discovered on the trek,my heart was in my mouth all the time as I watched Eliza(6 yrs old at the time) skip along the trail.I would recommend heading up to Zhongdian(or Shangrila as they call it also),we travelled mostly by trains,have a great time planning,kindest cheers,Carol.

Thanks guys for your replies and advise.
I think we will be going to Linjiang, the rice paddies of Yuanyang, maybe from there by train or plane to Guizhou and Kaili for the sister meal festival and Yangshuo.

Maybe I`ll be posting some other questions when we approach our program more.

Thanks for you kind help!