Our China family travel blog explores the sights, sounds, and food to give you everything you need to travel in China with kids.
Our Guide To Family Travel In China
Home to mind-bending historical sites like the Great Wall of China, and legendary high tech cities like Beijing and Hong Kong, China is a country born to defy expectations. Discover the legendary food scene in Shanghai, or explore stunning mountains that seem to defy physics.
Whether you are looking for nature, urban exploring, history, culture, art, or something altogether different, China is bound to have something amazing to offer you.
Our Most Popular China Family Travel Blog Posts
Shanghai boasts a fascinating combination of old Chinese culture and modern expat influence. This has led to it developing one of the World’s most amazing food scenes. Discover why a Shanghai food tour is the perfect experience in Shanghai with kids.
Shanghai China is one of the most exciting cities in the world. With a diverse cultural history and wild modern architecture, there is something for everyone to discover in Shanghai. Check out how to spend 24 Hours in Shanghai with kids.
From mouthwatering food experiences to adrenaline pumping thrills, and everything in between, adventure is all around us. And adventure family vacations are quickly replacing theme parks as the go-to family holiday experience. Come find out why.
Tips For Family Travel in China
China is a huge country, so traveling to China with kids can be overwhelming. Our China guide has a few things that will help you get started before you attempt family travel in China. To get started, I highly recommend that you read through our trip-planning resources. It lays out many of our well-researched family travel hacks.
- Currency
- Chinese currency is the Chines Yuan Renminbi. The average value of the Chinese Yuan is approximately $0.20 USD. You can check out the current value here.
- Capital
- The Capital of China is Beijing. This massive city of nearly 25 million people is the world’s second most populist city and the most populated capital city. Beijing boasts a fascinating contrast of ancient and modern architecture. The city itself dates back over 3,000 years.
- Electricity
- China uses 220V, 50HZ, AC sockets (Hong Kong is 200V).
- Cellular Phone Service
- Cell phone service is readily available throughout Urban areas of China. Sim chips are cheap and can be added to unlocked phones. I have used the Airalo eSim app for all of my international travel.
- Computers and Social Media
- China actively restricts many popular websites and social media channels including Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Their restrictive firewall is popularly referred to as “The Great Firewall of China”. China offers Chinese alternatives to these platforms that are popular among locals. These restrictions are not enforced in Hong Kong, which until a few years ago was under British rule. Those requiring access to traditional internet channels will require access to a VPN service.
- Roads, Driving and Public Transit
- Mass transit in urban China is quite developed and is a popular way of getting around.
- International driver’s licenses (IDP’s are not valid in China. You require a Chinese driver’s license (Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau licenses are also not accepted). Provisional licenses are available in major cities, however, it is much easier to hire a car and driver.
- China with Kids
- Family travel to China is popular. From the amazing wildlife to the gorgeous cities, China is a wonderful country to travel in with children. Generally, children are not doted on here, and you will rarely find accommodations that are built with children in mind, but the activities more than makeup for that.
Important Words And Phrases To Know For Family Travel In China
Language in China can be complicated. It’s a huge country, in fact, it’s second only to Russia in landmass, and third, behind Canada, for total area. And with that kind of area, there is a lot of variety in language. There are currently over 200 unique dialects in China.
The official dialect of China is Mandarin,which is sometimes referred to locally as “Putonghua” also call “Putonghua”. Luckily or most visitors, over 70% of the population in China speak Mandarin, so if you use that as your base language, you’ll be best served.
But it’s good to know that there are quite a few other major dialects in China. Some of these include Cantonese (known locally as “Yue”), Hunanese (known locally as “Xiang”), as well as Min, Gan, Wu, and Hakka (known locally as “Kejia”).
Mandarin is a musical language where intonation is very key to the pronounciation. Some words came have the same spelling yet mean very different things if they are said with the intonation on a specific sound.
Important Mandarin Words To Know:
Yes: Shì de
No: Bù
Thank You: Xièxiè
Thank You Very Much: Fēicháng gǎnxiè nǐ
You’re Welcome: Bié kèqì
Please: Qǐng
Excuse Me: Dǎrǎo yīxià
Hello: Nǐ hǎo
Goodbye: Zàijiàn
Bathroom: Yùshì
How To Stay Connected And Get Internet And Phone Service In China
Most major cities throughout Asia have excellent cellular service. If you have an older phone, I highly recommend purchasing a sim either at the airport or as one of your first stops on your travels.
If you have a newer eSim capable phone, you can save yourself time by purchasing an eSim ahead of time and having it activated before you arrive.
There are many companies that offer this service. I have used Airalo for years. It has been seamless in over ten countries. They have World, Regional, and Country-Specific eSims available. The price goes down the more specific you get. The regional sims allow for easy country-hopping if you are visiting multiple destinations.
Read Our Latest Latest China Family Travel Blog Posts
What to do on a 24-hour layover in Shanghai China
Airport layovers can be a major hassle. But during our 24-hour layover in Shanghai China, we decided to make the best of it and see how many things to do in Shanghai that we could pack into our schedule. It turns out that we could do WAY more than we expected. Airport layovers can be…
Continue Reading What to do on a 24-hour layover in Shanghai China
UnTour Food Tour In Shanghai: A Family Friendly Shanghai Food Tour
Shanghai is famous for its incredible local food scene. To learn about culture, food, and history, a Shanghai food tour with Untour Food Tours is perfect As I booked our family flights to the Philippines for our New Years adventure, I knew that coming from Canada, there was no way to book a direct flight…
Continue Reading UnTour Food Tour In Shanghai: A Family Friendly Shanghai Food Tour