Beijing tour with kids? HELP!

Hi all: My sister, her husband + 2 kids (3yrs and 1 yr) are going to be visiting from the US and they want to go to Beijing for a few days. 2 quick questions...


(1) I know they all need visas for China. I'm pretty sure they have to get them in advance but my brother-in-law heard that they can get visas when they land in China. Is this right? If they get them in advance, where do they go in HK to get them?


(2) Can anyone recommend any good tours in Beijing that are kid friendly? Or any travel agents that can offer reasonably priced pacakges?


THANKS!!!

I'd recommend a private tour, so they can do things at their own speed. However, whichever way you look at it, it will be tough with such young children.


We stayed at the Grand Hyatt, who can arrange a private car (for 4 people) or minivan to take them wherever they want and, if necessary, an English-speaking tour guide. I'm sure other hotles will do the same. Bear in mind that minivans may not have be of the same level of child safety as your sister is used to in the US, e.g. often no seatbelts to strap in the car seats. Cars (at least from the Hyatt) were different, as they were brand new German brands.


If they want to see the Wall, Mutianyu probably has the easiest cable car with young kids. Walk through the park at the Temple of Heaven, where the activity and the bright colours will interest the 3-year old, while the Summer Palace has a lovely atmosphere.


Good luck.

http://www.travelforkids.com/Funtodo/China/beijing.htm

Wow, it's a lot of walking! And a lot of the sights in Beijing are really interesting to adults, but just not going to be of great interest to the children. I'd recommend a very simple, easy to use umbrella stroller. Also, a strategy we used when our children were very small was to get out early in the morning, then return to hotel for a siesta in early afternoon, then get out again in the evening. This way, everyone is rested for the second round in the evening. A private car, while a luxury, is truly nice in this circumstance. Oh, also, when we went to the Great Wall at SiMaTai, there were local women who insisted on "helping" us (for free of course and then you feel obligated to buy books from them etc). Normally this is a great nuisance, but in that case it was wonderful! Each child had his or her own caregiver to take care of them on the Wall (and make sure they didn't fall off!) and we adults could pay attention to the wonderful views without worrying about taking our eyes off the children. I was recently at BaDaLing and found it to be overwhelmingly crowded and steep. At least, at Simatai once you climb the 400 M of steps you are there and the wall itself is breathtakingly beautiful and not too steep (though certainly not built with safety consciousness in mind!).

WARNING be prepared to be stuck in traffic jams for hours on end! My four day trip recently included 12 hours in taxis! It was a nightmare could only do one vist in the morning and one in the afternoon.Didn't get to most places it was all too hard ended up eating at the hotel.


Last year when I went to Shenzen with my American friend she was turned away at border and told she could only get one in HK!!


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