Traveling to China with kids

"Dennis McCrohan" wrote in message
...
Hi-

I'm looking for some net.wisdom on traveling to China with my wife and
two kids (8 and 11). My wife has been looking at some of the
package-tours that you can buy here in the States. From the description
of these, it looks like you would spend most of your time in 5-star
Western hotels (Hyatt, et al), eating western meals, riding around in
tour busses with a bunch of other Americans (and I'm guessing that most
of them would be, ahh, "mature"), and basically running from one
tourist-trap to the next. And that after the first day or so my kids
would be bored and tired of it. And we mostly eat Cambodian, Thai, and
Viet food, not hamburgers, so McDonanld's is not considered a treat in
my family.


Depending on the tour, no you won't be staying at 5 star hotels or eating
western meals. You'd be eating Chinese meals and staying at 3 to 4 star
hotels. Yes you'd be riding with other Americans, unless of course you book
a tour from a Chinese travel agent, in which case you'd be riding with other
Chinese Americans.

Yes you can design your own tour. It'll require more work on your part, but
in the end it's probably more fun. Amusement parks is not what your kids
will be interested in. There are much better amusement parks in the US
anyway. Your kids will want to see Chinese sights, take in Chinese culture,
and perhaps, if there is a chance, interact with Chinese of their own ages.


My wife is ethnic Chinese, speaks some Mandarian (in addition to her
parent's dialect), and our kids have been taking Mandarian classes for
several years. So I'm thinking that we would be better off with a tour
designed with children in mind (nothing like having other kids to talk
to/play with during long bus/plane rides) or just putting a package
together ourselves and hiring a private guide. I'd still like to stay in
higher class hotels (yes, I know about the Chinese attitude about
bathrooms) but other than that I'd rather eat in local restaraunts
(assuming food safety isn't an issue) and do things that would be of
more interest to the kids (say visiting an amusement park, or a school)
rather than trouping thru the 17th Imperial bedroom of the day.

Anyway, I'd be interested in feedback on all this, particularly from
folks who have taken their own school-age children to China.

Thanks,

-dm