Shanghai with Kids

Is Shanghai great for family travel? We thought so and went primarily to meet up with expat friends with 3 kids as we set up this American-kids-in-China play date years ago.

We're in China primarily for Mandarin immersion for our child, based in Beijing, but every family likes to have fun, explore new places, different cities and meet friends, so we headed off to Shanghai for the long Thanksgiving weekend, stayed at the lavish and legendary Fairmont Peace Hotel and had a blast.

I will be writing much more about this, but the top places for us were this oldest tea house in Shanghai ( 湖心亭), the adorable nearby water village of  Zhujiajio, European looking luxurious Xintiandi ( 新天地), Yuyuan Gardens, ( garden of peace), walking the Bund, espeically at night, the French area, Chenghuang Temple, and kidlet bargaining in Mandarin at the Dongtal Road Antique Market.

Related articles

Life in China

Learning Mandarin in China - Kids TV

Thanksgiving in China

Comments

[Kia]

We are 6 months in to our 1 year whirlwind, family, global sights and tastes tour, and considering adding China. Sounds like Shanghai is a good option. Was the pollution there insane? We all ended up with respiratory issues with just 5 days in Delhi and don't have any desire to repeat. What are your Top 5 for Beijing?

[Jeanne @soultravelers3]

Wow, Kia, we've been in China for a month and no real respiratory problems. ( We did each catch a minor cold with coughs, but that passed quickly and was never too bad).

Much depends on the time of year and we've lucked out with almost all sunny, clear days in Beijing.

Shanghai was more rainy, but the pollution didn't seem too bad.

Shanghai is very international and not really like China like Beijing and Xian are...so I'd add at least one of those cities as well.

I'll be writing lots more about China...the pros and cons and our top picks.

We had some advantage with many local friends here helping us and with a daughter who speaks Mandarin.

Few speak English so that is the biggest challenge for most tourists. The food,sights and hospitality has been amazing here and thankfully, the pollution not too bad, nor any crowds at this time of year.

Have fun! We'll come again for a longer stay!

[Jeanne @soultravelers3]

Of course there are always crowds in China with all these people..so what I meant is no crowds at typical tourist places....which makes it nice....although it is chilly!

[Kia]

Thanks so much for your responses, Jeanne. We will journey to China in January! So happy to hear that the pollution isn't overwhelming. We'll stick with Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'An.
Blessings for health and happiness to you and your family. - Best from Ngapali Beach in Burma!