Trip log: China

Finally, a trip log for this amazing adventure! :)

Locations: Shanghai and Beijing, China

Dates: January 7-24, 2012

Ages: Littles = 4 years 6 months, Noob = 23 months, Q = 14-17 weeks gestation

Methods of transportation: We flew from Dallas to Shanghai. We took the high-speed train from Shanghai to Beijing for a 3-day side trip. In Shanghai and Beijing, we primarily relied on public transportation.

Littles and Noob chatting on the subway

Accommodations: In Shanghai, we stayed at the Di Jing Yuan service apartments (also called the Starway Parkview Court). This was recommended by one of my husband’s Shanghai-based co-workers and it worked out beautifully. A “service apartment” is similar to an extended stay hotel in the USA. Ours had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living/dining area. We had three adults (my mother-in-law, my husband, and myself) plus the two kids, so we really needed that extra space! The apartment also had a small balcony with a washer/dryer, so we were able to do laundry regularly. The location was wonderful too, walking distance to many restaurants, grocery stores, and shops, as well as the Xujiahui metro station (lines 1 and 9).

In Beijing, we stayed at the Marriott City Wall. This was primarily because we were using up some Marriott points. Had we been paying, we would have chosen a Chinese hotel, because we found that they were much cheaper than Western chains like Marriott. Anyway, the hotel was very nice and the location was excellent.

A well-deserved room service dessert at the Marriott City Wall, after a long day on the Great Wall!

Sleeping arrangements: In Shanghai, my mother-in-law stayed in one bedroom, and my husband and I stayed in the other. We started off with the kids in the living area, with Noob in the Peapod and Littles in the Peapod Plus, but Littles eventually ended up sleeping with my mother-in-law, and Noob slept in the Peapod in our room.

My mother-in-law and the kids, getting ready for bed

In Beijing, we had a room with two beds. My husband and I slept in one, Littles slept in the other, and Noob slept in the Peapod on the floor. My mother-in-law stayed at a different hotel. (She was speaking at a conference, so she stayed at the hotel where the conference was being held.)

Eating arrangements: Having a kitchen meant we could cook a lot of meals at our service apartment, which saved money and was a lot easier than trying to find a restaurant where we could actually understand the menu :) Littles sat in a chair in the dining area, and we brought a First Years On-the-Go Booster Seat for Noob.

Activities: I’ve already done posts on our Shanghai activities and Beijing activities.

Key piece of travel gear: The Ergo. Noob got carried all over the place, and even Littles hopped in for a ride a couple of times when she got tired.

Biggest challenge: Keeping the kids healthy and safe.

What worked well:

• Second flight = longest flight. We flew to Shanghai via Chicago, so we had a short flight to Chicago and then the long flight (14 hours) to Shanghai. We flew home via Tokyo, so again, we had a short flight before the long flight (10 hours). That was nice, because after getting through 10+ hours on a plane with Noob, in particular, the last thing I would have wanted to do was get on another plane!
• Staying in a service apartment. I honestly don’t know how we would have survived this trip if we had been in a standard hotel room! Having multiple bedrooms, a kitchen, and a washer/dryer was key.
• Taking the train to Beijing. The high-speed train takes about as long as flying (when you factor in having to get to the airport early, etc.). It’s cheaper. There are more trains than flights per day. The train has lots more room for a restless toddler to wander. It was a cool experience. Win-win-win-win-win!
• Not checking out of our Shanghai apartment to go to Beijing. Since the Beijing trip was so short, and we were able to book a hotel there on points, we just kept paying for our Shanghai service apartment for those nights. It wasn’t too expensive, and it was so worth it to avoid dragging all of our 2+ weeks’ worth of stuff on the train to Beijing.
• Cloth diapering. It was easy, and disposables in China cost as much as $1 per diaper.

What didn’t:

• Not being able to speak/read the language. This isn’t like being in, say, Spain, where you might not know Spanish but some of the words sound similar enough to English that you can get the gist of what someone is trying to say. Chinese is completely different from English. Also, this is probably obvious, but when you’re out and about, a lot of signs and stuff are only in Chinese. If you’re lucky, you might find a pinyin translation (transcription of the Chinese characters into Latin script), but you can’t always count on it. We quickly learned that we needed very precise directions on where to get wherever we wanted to go. We couldn’t just head out and trust we could figure things out.
• Only bringing one carrier. We only had the Ergo, but there were quite a few times when it would have been handy to be able to carry both kids. We’ll definitely bring at least two carriers on future trips, so we don’t have to do things like this:
  
• Going in January. We didn’t really have a choice on dates, as we were doing this trip in conjunction with a business trip for my husband. But January was very cold and very wet. Definitely not the ideal time to go. (Although it did keep the crowds down at the various tourist attractions.)
• Chinese toilets :)

All in all, this trip was expensive, hard at times, scary at times… and 100% worth it. So many amazing memories, for all of us. Littles and Noob still talk about the things we did, 10 months later.