Every year we have the distinct privilege of compiling a School Choice Guide (SCG) for our readers. This special issue of our magazine is not only a comprehensive look at the state of international education in Beijing, it also acts as a compendium to our annual Jing International School Expo (JISE), so that parents and students are equipped to make the most out of their visits with principals and staff at the event, and ultimately find the best school for their family.

Due to COVID-19, we were unfortunately forced to delay JISE, however, our 2020-2021 School Choice Guide is available and jam-packed with information! Now is the perfect time to familiarize yourself with everything from the various curricula followed at different institutions, to which schools offer scholarships and how your kid could land one.

For now, you can check out our article about school size below, and decide with your kids if school size matters.

 Few parents would disagree that class size is an important issue when it comes to choosing a school. A huge body of evidence supports the idea that children learn better in smaller groups. While critics point out that reducing class size is not a panacea, since it relies on having an increased pool of trained, skilled teachers, most international schools in Beijing have teaching groups smaller than the global average of 24.1 students.

However, in recent years attention has turned to a different issue: the size of schools themselves. Data that showed smaller schools among the best performing led billionaire Bill Gates to spend a great deal of money pushing for the break up of bigger institutions. However the assumption was based on a misunderstanding of statistics: smaller samples have more variation, so smaller schools were also among the worst-performing!

Since then the debate has raged across the educational sector. Studies supporting the idea have been challenged for not taking into account other factors, while proponents of small schools claim they are better for students’ social development. There is even disagreement as to what should be considered a “small school”, some insisting it means fewer than 500 students, others counting anything up to 900 as small. And while a school with over 1,000 students might seem big, that’s tiny compared to many Chinese high schools, with rolls in five figures, or the world’s largest school in Lucknow, India, which has a staggering 50,000 students.

To explore the pros and cons of school size, we talked to leaders from two of Beijing’s fastest-growing institutions. Samantha Corset is the Executive Assistant to the head of school and Director of Campus Coordination at Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA).

“BIBA was founded in 2006,” she told us, “and through 13 years of dedicated and hard work by all staff, the school has transformed itself from a small school with four teachers and 44 students in the first year, to now a school including an Early Childhood Center (ECC), an Elementary School (ES) and a Middle/High School (MS/HS) with about 1,660 students and 330 members of staff. The school’s mission is, through a blending of Eastern and Western philosophies, to inspire students to be rigorous, balanced and independent life-long learners; to develop compassion and positive relationships; to respect and appreciate the world in which they live; to understand their role and responsibility in a global community.”

Beijing Xin Fuxue School is, as its name suggests, one of the newest high schools in the city’s educational scene. But, as co-principal Gary Dimitratos told us, its roots go back a long way.

“Shuntian Fuxue was founded in 1985 by Mr. Lu, as an education center for mathematics. He is a well-known math teacher in Beijing, who’s coached a lot of students who have gone on to study abroad at Princeton and Harvard. From that, Cynthia [Xing, the school’s Executive Principal] worked with him to develop an elementary and middle school. I met them during a summer and had a fruitful conversation about educational philosophies, based on an intimate class setting and hands-on education. After that, I came to this school as the founding foreign principal.

“We started enrolling in May 2017, and our doors opened in August 2017 with 45 students and worked it up to 450. It’s a K12 school [kindergarten to grade 12], with a mix of international and local students from all over northern China. We have no classroom larger than 15-18 students, once they get beyond that we split them into two.”

The bigger school has slightly larger classes, around 20 to 22 students, though this is still well below average. But Corset emphasized the support provided by BIBA’s homeroom system.

“In Middle and High School we have an international teacher as homeroom teacher for two classes, and we may have a Chinese teacher per class. In Elementary we have one international homeroom teacher per class, and we might have Chinese teacher support. Also in Middle and High School, we have an advisory program, where students meet in an advisory group. As we’re a positive education school, they’re practicing mindfulness every day.

“The house program runs parallel to the homeroom system,” she continued. “We use it to support our vision and mission, what we call the 4 R’s: Rigor, Respect, Responsibility, and Relationships. During house program time we focus on developing social skills.”

Beijing Xin Fuxue School has similar arrangements for pastoral care, Dimitratos told us.

 “We have an international teacher and a Chinese teacher for each homeroom. And we have a house system, so they can compete with each other. We’ve just had a soccer tournament, we have academic and physical competitions and house assemblies. There are six houses, each a different color, and another thing we’ve done is to allow them to pick an animal, to create a poster, their own logo, and banner.”

Larger campuses with more facilities is one area where bigger schools can claim an advantage. Corset proudly told us about what BIBA has to offer:

“An indoor gymnasium with three indoor basketball courts and various sports facilities catering for both Early Childhood students through to grade 12 students, arts and technology centers, and a STEAM room, as well as separate school buildings for Early Childhood, Lower Elementary, and Upper Elementary School.”

Dimitratos though, argues that smaller schools don’t need to mean students are missing out.

“It’s a small school, but a big location. We have modern classrooms, a bubble gym with an air-purifying machine, a basketball court and badminton court. We have a soccer pitch, an outdoor basketball court and running track, and a sun room. When we need something they will build it: we built an auditorium this year that can seat 400 plus people.”

He sees the school’s size as part of its appeal.

“We’re offering parents an education for their children in a small, intimate classroom setting. I’ve been a principal for seven years, and I like the family feel, the atmosphere. I can go round and get to know all the children, help them get the confidence to be successful learners. I’m not stuck in the office doing paperwork or in meetings all day. This school has been a real big boost for me. I’ve been able to do a lot of guest speaking, as an advocate for bilingual education and my educational philosophy. I can see the kids in the morning before school, have personal relationships with the teachers and the families as well as the students. I know everyone on a first-name basis, and when a school goes over 400 students that can be difficult. The family feel is something parents and students have commented on.”

At BIBA, communication is key to ensuring that being a big school doesn’t mean losing cohesion.

“We have three divisions, Early Years, Elementary, and Middle/High, and three principals,” Corset said. “It tends to get very busy! So one of the things that we focus on is communication. We use email for formal communication, WeChat is only for outward communication, for example, a notice about a dental check. Our aim is for parents to discuss on email about their personal situation rather than in a public forum. We have a social media policy to protect children.

“We also have regular meetings. The principals meet weekly, the heads of department meet regularly, and we have a whole staff meeting once a month. And every teacher meets to discuss their professional development. Last year Geelong Grammar School in Australia came out and did a training for the whole school in Positive Education. We celebrate things together too! We have an annual staff party, and ice cream parties after school for the whole staff.”

Involving parents is also vital to creating a sense of community, Corset said.

“We have an active Parent Teacher Association (PTA) with 300 core members, who are very involved in school life. They work together as a parent community. That’s one of the things that’s quite special about the school. We believe in lifelong learning, not just for students but also for parents. We have classes and activities run by and for parents on campus.

“Any school has a community which can be divided,”  Corset continued. “Something we work hard on is to identify our differences but also recognize similarities so that we’re not defined by our differences. What’s really wonderful is that we have a large staff of over 370, and we have an array of activities that are staff-led after school, open to all staff, whether Chinese or international. We work really hard to be inclusive.”

We asked her what she sees as the key benefit of being a big school.

“Generally a bigger school will have been developed over a period of time. That sort of history creates a space for schools to be confident in their unique features. We’re in our thirteenth year, and having that time, you know where your strengths are. For BIBA it’s our merging or blending of Western and Eastern culture. Our role is to love and grow the students.”

As a new school, Beijing Xin Fuxue is growing and developing the structures to underpin its community.

“We organized a PTA this year. They help put on events, like the winter show, spring concert, and parent-teacher meetings, to review our mission statement and school learning objectives. Parents can also come to school to view open classes and give feedback on how the teaching is going. We’ve also done a community shoe box appeal for migrant children, and went out and delivered them as a school. We have a family day every year, families come and the students put on performances, not just for parents, but for the community. They put on an art show, performances, food, and games.”

We wondered whether Xin Fuxue might continue growing so that it becomes no longer a “small school.”

“I don’t know about the future plans of the organization, whether we will expand into other campuses, but to be honest I’m still advocating for a small school setting. The school is only two years old, and it’s grown quickly. We’re always looking for ways to take parent and student feedback and incorporate that. For me, as a principal, I’m working with the people around me to offer the best education, to get everything in place in terms of assessment and student achievement. It’s a forward-thinking school, and as a foreigner, I’m proud to work here. The last two years have been refreshing.”

Photos: courtesy of Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA) and Beijing Xin Fuxue School

This article appeared in the beijingkids 2020 School Choice Guide

With the coronavirus lockdown looking to run deep into February, you’re likely to start running out of essentials at home. Face masks have become one such essential, as they’re now mandatory to even enter a supermarket or use Didi. But how can you beat the profiteers ramping up prices? And what do you do if the shelves are empty at your local store?

One solution is to use Taobao. that online Aladdin’s Cave where almost anything can be purchased and delivered to your door in a few days. Most sellers are likely to be up and running again on Monday (February 3) as the extended official holiday comes to an end, and you can browse thousands of suppliers to get the best price. There’s plenty of advice online about how to sign up for Taobao, but in the rapidly changing world of the internet most of it us outdated. So here is our bang up-to-date guide on how to “Open Sesame” and get shopping!

First, enter taobao.com into your browser. It’s a busy and confusing homepage, but don’t panic! In the top left-hand corner, you’re looking for 免费注册 (miǎn fèi zhù cè, “free registration”).

Click on this, and you’ll be asked to agree to the terms and conditions. Click the big orange button to do so:

Now comes the bit that’s going to make everything much easier. In the top right-hand corner, you’ll see the lovely word “English”. Click on that:

And all becomes clear.

What you need to do now is to verify your phone number. Enter it in the box, then slide the slider across. If you check the box, you can set up an Alipay account at the same time!

You’ll get a six-digit code sent to your phone. Enter in the box that says “Verification code.”

You’ll also need to create a password, which needs to include letters, numbers, and at least one special character (punctuation etc.), and to find a username nobody has used previously. This can be a challenge to your creativity…

And that’s it! Happy shopping!

Useful search words:
surgical mask：手术口罩
disinfectant: 消毒液
disposable gloves: 一次性手套
thermometer: 体温计

Photos: Andrew Killeen

After exploring Mandalay, we headed for Bagan. This ancient city is sometimes described as Myanmar’s Angkor Wat, and was the capital of a great kingdom that rivaled the Khmer Empire to the east. It’s smaller than the Angkor Wat complex, but less commercialized, and is a must-see for anyone visiting Myanmar. But first, we had to get there.

Myanmar developed mostly along river valleys with mountains in between. Transport infrastructure is still relatively undeveloped, with few railway lines and most roads little more than dirt tracks. So we opted for a boat trip down the Irrawaddy River. The journey takes eight hours but is substantially cheaper than flying and more comfortable than going by road.

We bought tickets immediately on arrival at the airport and were relieved to find later that the office there was genuinely offering the best price: USD 45 (and half-price for our 10-year-old). This includes breakfast (it’s an early start), a reasonable lunch and a piece of cake and fruit in the afternoon. Tea and coffee are served free all day, and soft drinks and beer can be purchased.

Disembarking at Yandabo

Our boys were a little bored, so books and perhaps an iPad or other entertainment is recommended. However, my wife and I enjoyed dozing on our bamboo chairs in the cool river breeze. Shortly after lunch, there’s a stop at Yandabo. This otherwise undistinguished village specializes in making cooking pots, and although there are a few souvenir stalls, the locals were happy to invite us into their workshops, without pressure to buy anything.

The villagers of Yandabo invited us in to their workshop

On arrival at Bagan, taxis are waiting, and charge an exorbitant and non-negotiable fixed price to take you anywhere. And the first stop is around the corner, to a checkpoint where you are required to pay a fee in cash just to enter Bagan. At the time this felt like, as my 14-year-old put it, a “shakedown”. However since the temples and stupas are dotted all around the town, there would be no practical way of charging admission to them, and the money is used for the upkeep of the monuments. So just make sure you bring enough money with you.

Hiring e-bikes in Bagan

The best way to get around Bagan is by e-bike. This would not be an option for families with younger children, and the alternative is to hire a taxi or tuktuk for the day. However, the bikes cost a very reasonable USD 3.50 per day and gave us the freedom to explore at our own pace. Our 10-year-old rode on the back of my bike, while our 14-year-old, an experienced cyclist, was delighted to have his own. You have to ask for helmets, which are not routinely offered (or used). The roads are mostly in good condition, although on the way to Dhammayangyi we hit a patch of deep, soft sand and I lost control of my bike. We were traveling slowly enough that I was able to stop safely, but caution is advised on the back roads.

Ananda is possibly Bagan’s most beautiful shrine

After four years in Asia, my sons’ tolerance for temples is worn thin, so we negotiated an itinerary based on seeing four key sites, with the option of stopping at anywhere along the way that looked interesting. Ananda is the most beautiful of the temples; Dhammayangyi the biggest. Shwesandaw was described online as a temple which visitors could climb, but when we visited it was closed off… I’m not aware that any of the monuments can still be climbed, and I don’t think it’s a sustainable future for 700-year-old structures.

Dhammayangyi is the largest of Bagan’s ancient temples

Shwezigon, the last stop on our tour, was the busiest and most active temple, but also perhaps the most disappointing. Apart from the shining gold stupa, stunning against Myanmar’s deep blue sky, it was grubby and crowded. However it was interesting to see shrines to the Nats, the Bamar people’s traditional guardian spirits.

The golden stupa at Shwezigon was the model for Yangon’s famous Shwedagon

In Myanmar, Buddhism is practiced alongside the worship of protector spirits called Nats

We were disappointed also by the Royal Palace, which we paid extra to see, but which turned out to be a modern reconstruction on the site of an ancient ruin. Overall however Bagan was a fabulous experience, rich in extraordinary buildings, and with plenty of restaurants and bars to serve a tourist trade which will surely increase every year. Living in China offers an opportunity to see this extraordinary place before it becomes as crowded as Angkor Wat – don’t miss it.

Photos: Andrew Killeen

Mandalay city has some attractive sights, despite the damage it endured in World War Two. However to see what makes it worth visiting, you need to cross the Irrawaddy River and start exploring the ancient capitals of Upper Burma.

There’s a well-established tourist trail, as can be seen from the fact that you will run into the same people at each location all day long. We were determined to visit Mingun, which cost extra and meant getting up before dawn. However, for only MMK 60,000 (about USD 40) our hotel arranged a driver and car for the whole day, and it was a small price to pay for an unforgettable experience.

Hsinbyume Temple

A 45 minute drive took us to Mingun, and the breathtakingly beautiful Hsinbyume Temple. The temple was built in 1816 in memory of a princess who died in childbirth, and looks like clouds (or more prosaically, a giant meringue).

The Mingun Bell is the second largest ringing bell in the world

The brute size of Mingun’s other main attraction contrasts with the delicate elegance of Hsinbyume. There’s a foretaste of it along the way, in the form of the Mingun Bell. 900 tonnes of bronze, which until 2000 was the heaviest ringing bell in the world. You can climb inside it, and even ring it by whacking it with a lump of wood.

The unfinished, but still awe-inspiring, Mingun Temple

The bell was cast for Mingun Temple, which, had it been finished, would have been the world’s biggest stupa, soaring 150 meters into Myanmar’s deep blue skies. However an astrologer told the king that when it was completed he would die, so the building was abandoned. An earthquake in 1839 caused huge cracks, but a model nearby gives some sense of how gargantuan the finished stupa would have been. (The model dates to the same period as the original temple.)

The model gives some idea of how enormous the Mingun Temple would have been if finished

From Mingun we were taken to Mahagandar Yone, one of the biggest and most important monasteries in the country. Buddhism is thriving in Burma, having been supported by the military government, even though monks were often in the forefront of protests against it. Every day tourists gather to see the monks lining up patiently for their only meal of the day. Food is provided by people from the local community, who take a pride in taking their turn to donate, and when we went the monks were also being given exercise books and pencils. (Buddhist traditions of education mean that Myanmar has always had a high level of literacy, even during periods of economic struggle.)

The monks line up in order of seniority with the youngest last, followed by the novices

The monks leave their shoes in neat rows outside the dining hall

Next stop on the tour was Sagaing, capital of the kingdom for only three years in the 18th century, but from the 14th century seat of royal princes. The area is rich with stunning pagodas, including Umin Thonze with its curved “cave” containing seated Buddhas and paintings with moral lessons.

Umin Thonze

While the heir to the throne was at Sagaing, the kings of various Burmese kingdoms for most of the period between 1365 and 1839 ruled from their capital at Awa, now called Inwa. The city was destroyed by an earthquake, and is now in ruins, but the locals make the most of the sights that remain. Drivers bring everyone to a tributary of the river, where you have to take a boat across to Inwa. It’s not in fact an island, and it’s perfectly possible to drive there, but from the boat you are led to where horses and carts wait to take you round the old city. Hiring a cart is not obligatory, but the locals drive the carts very aggressively past the few tourists who choose to walk.

Horse carts await the tourists arriving at Inwa

It’s not a comfortable ride, bouncing over the dirt roads, and I was annoyed that we were not given any choice as to which sites we saw during the one-hour tour. I balked at paying to enter Bagaya Monastery, which is a modern reconstruction, only to find we had to buy the same ticket to see the unmissable Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery. But the kids loved the horses, and the ruins were dramatic and atmospheric.

The ruined temple of Yadana Hsimi

The tour had one last stop: U Bein, said to be the longest wooden footbridge in the world. It’s an alarming place to walk, with no side rail and crowds of tourists stopping to take pictures without much regard for those around. We decided against walking its 1.2km length, and enjoyed the sunset from a lakeside restaurant, enjoying the cheap but fabulous seafood which is everywhere in Myanmar.

U Bein Bridge at sunset

With hindsight, we could have spent two whole days in Mandalay; we didn’t get to see, for example, the famously gold- and jewel-encrusted Mahamuni Buddha. But our next stop was calling, perhaps Myanmar’s most famous tourist draw: Bagan.

Birds fly around Hsinbyume Pagoda

Photos: Andrew Killeen, Karen Killeen

Myanmar is not an obvious destination for a family holiday. The country formerly known as Burma was closed to the world from 1962 to 1988, and it’s probably fair to say for most people, it’s somewhere you only visit after you’ve already been to everywhere else in South-East Asia… which was pretty much the case for us. But that’s a shame, as it’s a beautiful, unspoilt country, with many astonishing sights and friendly people.

We flew into Mandalay, the commercial and cultural center of northern Myanmar. The city was made famous by Rudyard Kipling’s poem “On the road to Mandalay…” which made it a byword for exotic glamor. It’s a relatively modern city though, founded in 1857 by the last king of an independent Burmese kingdom, and it was bombed by both sides during World War Two, leaving the royal palace completely destroyed. The road to Mandalay is mostly a dirt track. However within the dusty, sprawling modern city are the ruins of three ancient capitals, and some breathtaking temples.

With only a day and a half to explore, we headed first to the north-eastern corner of the royal palace. (The palace site occupies over a thousand acres at the heart of Mandalay, and is visible at night as a huge dark square amid the city lights. Some of the buildings have been reconstructed, and there’s a museum on the site too, but we decided to give it a miss.) This is the location of Mandalay Hill, after which the city is named, and the stunning Kuthodaw Pagoda.

Kuthodaw Pagoda

Kuthodaw is known as the “World’s Biggest Book.” The pagoda itself is surrounded by smaller stupas, each housing a marble slab on which is carved a Buddhist sutra. Collectively the slabs contain the whole “Tripitaka”, the canon scriptures of Theravada Buddhism.

One of the 729 stone inscriptions that give Kuthodaw Pagoda the title of “world’s biggest book”

Around the same area are the Kyauktawgyi Buddha Temple, which contains a 900 tonne iron Buddha, and the Shwenandaw Monastery, with its celebrated teak carvings. But we planned to climb Mandalay Hill in time for sunset.

Like most holy sites in Myanmar, you have to take off your shoes and socks when entering Mandalay Hill. I found this heightened my awareness and appreciation of the act of climbing; walking in bare feet makes you more mindful, watching where you tread and feeling the dust, the hot concrete and the cool tiles. The walkway is lined with stalls selling drinks, souvenirs and Buddha statues. For someone from a Western background it seems an odd combination of commercialism and spirituality, but it’s a common sight in the Buddhist world, and the reverence for the shrines is real.

Climbing Mandalay Hill

After a lung-busting climb we arrived at a standing Buddha. “Here we are,” I said, but I was being ludicrously optimistic. it was only the first statue on a long, winding path, dotted with shrines and pagodas. The sun set and darkness had fallen by the time we finally reached the top. The views of the city, amid the fragrance of incense, made the walk worthwhile.

Mandalay Hill offers spectacular views of the city at night- note the dark square of the old palace area

Photos: Andrew Killeen, Karen Killeen

As I sat down to write this post, I noticed an odd fact: this is my 400th post for beijingkids. In one sense this is nothing remarkable, it’s just what happens when you do something twice a week for four years. It’s not even the record: the legendary Nimo Wanjau, who taught me everything I know, clocked up a magnificent 533 posts. I’m unlikely to ever beat that record, with the glue factory van already waiting outside, motor running, but it’s still a long time, and a lot of writing. So instead of my planned post, I decided to take a look back at life in the city over that time.

With my wife Karen at the Great Wall

To see the biggest change in Beijing, look to the skies. My very first column for beijingkids was about dealing with two bored kids stuck inside due to high AQI. While the air is not yet Alpine, it has improved dramatically. Not all the changes in the city have been so positive, however. Back in 2017 I reported on the mystery of the jianbing, Beijing’s spicy, crunchy breakfast pancake, disappearing from the streets, and while the post may have been tongue-in-cheek, the clampdown on street food is real, and has changed the sights, sounds, and smells of the city.

Eating insects at the night market, in my early days in Beijing

12 days after my jianbing post a horrific fire cost the lives of 19 people in a Daxing boarding house. This was the cause of a further tightening of regulations, which impacted several much-loved expat businesses, and more seriously, caused the closure of numerous markets which were crucial to the city’s migrant workers. Along with the “Brickening” of the hutongs, this all means that Beijing may be cleaner and tidier, but has lost some of its unique character. The banning of fireworks at Spring Festival was another understandable but significant change in the feel of the city.

Our tone at beijingkids is generally upbeat and positive, because we’re all about families having a fabulous time here. But we’re not afraid to tackle serious stories that might affect our readership, particularly when we’re able to bring perspective to rumors on social media. When an abuse scandal broke at a Beijing kindergarten, we untangled fact from some of the wilder speculation. We cautioned against unthinkingly sharing reports of missing children, when one such report turned out to be an estranged father trying to locate his ex-wife. And when the so-called “Blue Whale suicide cult” came to China, we were one of the few media organizations worldwide to debunk what turned out to be a phenomenon largely created by the media themselves.

Interviewing cricket legend Mike Gatting was a great honour

The Blue Whale post had a long and rather sad afterlife, with teenagers (mostly from India) posting comments asking for a link to the game. You can read my response to the first such comment, then after that I simply deleted them rather than give them publicity. I also still regularly delete as spam comments from men in the US asking to be added to Beijing moms’ WeChat groups, in spite of having added a rather terse note to the bottom of the post. However the post which still attracts the most genuine comments was an account of my struggles to get a visa to Russia in Beijing. It is apparently the only such information on the internet, and I try to help all those who stumble across it.

For my family, as for many, the opportunity to travel and explore is one of the main attractions of living in Beijing, and I’ve documented my family’s adventures while offering tips for others who want to discover Asia. I’ve written about Harbin, Tianjn, Xiamen, Macau, Taiwan, Nanjing, and Shanghai, and beyond China we’ve visited Mongolia, Japan, South Korea, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. If your family are adventurous travelers look for my upcoming posts about Myanmar, an extraordinary and mostly undiscovered destination.

Meeting an eagle in Mongolia

It’s not all been serious. Among the posts I’ve been most proud of have been our April Fool’s posts. Whether it’s toddlers’ tricycles being impounded, a ban on ice cream, or toilet paper with only one side, the inspiration has come from topical events and concerns, and the posts have managed to fool quite a few people along the way. The ice cream ban was even reported in Danish media as a real story!

Nobody knows what changes the city will see over the next few years (though when the temporary licenses on e-bikes expire, I predict that’s going to be interesting…)  Whatever happens though, you can rely on one thing: beijingkids will be here to tell you what you need to know. It’s not for nothing that we’re called “Beijing’s essential international family resource”!

My family at the Red Brick Art Museum

Photo: Bridget Colla via Flickr

Bangkok is famous for many things; however, you’d have to say that “family-friendly holiday location” isn’t one of them. For us, it was just a stage along the way to Myanmar (of which much more in future posts). Since our flight to Mandalay would have involved a stopover in Thailand’s capital, we decided to break the journey and have a couple of days looking around.

We stayed at the eccentric but lovable Atlanta Hotel, which was established in 1952 and preserves its original Art Deco interior. Maintaining its genteel status in Bangkok involves some strict rules, including a sign at the entrance proclaiming “No sex tourists!” Which, of course, led to our 10-year-old asking “What’s a sex tourist?” And they’re fussy about who they take. You don’t so much book a room at the Atlanta as apply for one, ideally recommended by someone who’s stayed there before, and wait to hear whether you’ve been deemed worthy.

The Atlanta Hotel has kept its Art Deco stylings

On seeing the Atlanta’s rooms you may ask yourself who they think they are, to be so picky. The facilities would have a Spartan warrior writing to Tripadvisor and complaining of the lack of frills. While the rooms are clean and well-kept, only the air-conditioning seems to have been changed since the 1950s. Don’t expect a TV or a fridge (though the Wi-fi is adequate). On the other hand, the Atlanta is centrally located, and very cheap. And it’s the only hotel I’ve ever stayed at with a scriptorium.

Perhaps most importantly for us, it was the first hotel in Bangkok with a swimming pool, and this remains its crowning glory. We as a family are budget travelers, preferring to see the world than to sit around a posh hotel. However we have decided that a pool is essential for any city break with kids. Trailing around temples and museums will try the patience of the most studious of children, so unless you’re going to spend your time in a soft play center or theme park which could be anywhere, some compromise is necessary. For us this means “sightseeing in the morning, then you can swim after lunch.”

A clock tower in Lumphini Park

So we went easy on day one, with a stroll around Lumphini Park. This is the green heart of Bangkok, with a lake, paths for jogging and cycling, and statues and monuments dotted around. From there we headed up to Erawan, a Hindu holy shrine at the very center of the city. Here worshippers pay, and patiently wait their turn to pray while the dancers perform a ritual around them.

Ancient and modern: the Erawan Shrine below the Skytrain and giant video screens of 21st century Bangkok

Worshippers pray while the dancers perform ritual dances around them

On the second day we had hoped to visit the Presidential Palace, but discovered too late that tickets need to be booked 24 hours in advance. Instead we decided to check out the National Museum. Surprisingly, Bangkok’s most important sites are not directly connected to its Skytrain/metro system. So we took the Silom Line to the river pier at Saphan Taksin, then a boat up the Chao Phraya.

A river trip is a great way to see Bangkok

This turned out to be one of the highlights of our time in Bangkok. First though we had to get past the touts around the pier, and negotiate the baffling profusion of lines and ticketing systems. In our confusion we nearly took the free shuttle boat to the mall across the river. The rule seemed to be that the further we walked the lower the price became, from the RMB 100 we were first quoted, to a mere RMB 20 each.

But the river is a great place from which to see the city, as well as being a fun trip in its own right. We landed at the Royal Palace after about 45 minutes, and from there it was a short walk to the museum. The Bangkok National Museum occupies what was once the “Front Palace”, the abode of Siam’s “deputy king”, at the time a very powerful office akin to a modern Prime Minister. The buildings and grounds are worth seeing in their own right.

A Buddhist monk’s pulpit

When we visited some of the exhibitions were closed, but the museum is still home to extraordinary treasures, from musical instruments, to royal furnishings and chess sets, to robes and religious icons. My kids were particularly fascinated by the howdahs, seats for riding on elephants in war and peace. Even more spectacular were the vast golden chariots on which the Kings of Thailand are hauled to their coronation,

One of the magnificent golden chariots on which the kings of Thailand travel to their coronations

Bangkok is an attractive place, relatively undamaged by war, imperialist pillaging, and civil upheaval, which have robbed so many Asian cities of their glories. On our last night my wife and I went out for a drink, and stumbled into the red light district, which turned out to be right next to the city’s premier hotels (if you book into the Holiday Inn with your kids, be prepared to explain more than just signs…) People were wheeling strollers up the street and carrying toddlers past the ladyboys and ladies of the night, without any concern. So perhaps Bangkok is a family-friendly holiday location after all.

Photos: Andrew Killeen, www.cnn.com, Karen Killeen

“The purple headed mountain,
the river running by…”

As a kid I used to sing these words from the hymn “All Things Bright and Beautiful” with some bafflement. I hadn’t seen many mountains, but I was pretty sure they weren’t usually purple. And I’m not any the wiser as to why Nanjing’s Purple Mountain is so called. Its Chinese name, Zĭjīn Shān, means an even more improbable “Purple Gold Mountain.” Wikipedia has two different explanations in its brief entry, neither of them wholly convincing.

Whatever the reason, it’s a pleasant place to stroll, a forested haven right in the heart of China’s former capital. And after our moving but grueling visit to the Memorial to the Nanjing Massacre, we needed something to soothe our souls. At one point we stumbled on a lake, where a few hardy locals were swimming, in defiance of signs forbidding it and the general Chinese attitude that while safety precautions on construction sites are an optional extra, any water more than ankle deep is a deadly peril from which people must be protected at all costs.

It’s also the site of Ming Tombs: not as extensive as Beijing’s complex, but scattered through the forest so that you come across 14th century carvings wherever you wander.

This dog guards the tomb of a Ming dynasty general, but seemed friendly

Because we were enjoying our ramble, and had badly underestimated the size of the mountain, it was past midday when we arrived at the park’s main attraction: the Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum. (We ended up taking the bus to cut short a lengthy walk.) Sun Yat-Sen, or Zhongshan as he is usually known in Chinese, is regarded as the father of the modern nation, a figure perhaps uniquely revered both on the mainland and in Taiwan. Every town in China has a road named after him, and after his death in 1925 he was interred in a vast hall at the top of a stairway nearly half a kilometer long.

However disappointment awaited us. Access to the tomb is by appointment only, and the first slot available to us was not until 4pm, by which time we were due to be on the train heading for home. If you’re visiting Nanjing I strongly recommend that you pre-book online, or at the very least arrive early in the morning.

So instead we opted for one of the park’s lesser attractions, the cable car ride to the mountain peak, undeterred by the rather alarming signs:

We were sort of hoping that we could rely on the cable car door, to be honest

Tickets cost RMB 100 for a return trip, or RMB 60 if you fancy walking all the way down again. (Kids between 1.2m and 1.4m pay RMB 50/30, and for those under 1.2m it’s just RMB 10/5.) There’s a stop halfway up, and at the top a couple of viewing platforms, some rock carvings, and, surprisingly, a small KFC. You can also walk along a path to a military fort which appears long abandoned, but is still protected by barbed wire and video cameras. Most importantly though, there are spectacular views of the city.

At the top of Purple Mountain, viewing platforms offer spectacular views of Nanjing

We found Nanjing unexpectedly charming. It’s less grid-like than most Chinese cities, with rambling, tree-lined streets and attractive buildings. The high-speed gaotie railway network can whisk you there from Beijing in under three and a half hours, making it an appealing destination for a weekend getaway.

Photos: Andrew Killeen

Over December, we’ve been highlighting some of the organizations and people that give their time and skills to make our city a better place. Here’s a round-up of all the causes we’ve profiled, so if your New Year’s resolution is to give something back, you’ll find plenty of ideas for getting involved below.

To read the full interviews, follow the links below.

Horses Offering People Enrichment (HOPE)

Children love animals, whether it’s a family pet or the cuddly pandas at the zoo. For some children with disabilities, that love can help them to grow and develop in areas where they have difficulties. It’s called equine therapy, and it’s available in Beijing thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers. We talked to Amy Tripson about Horses Offering People Enrichment: HOPE. 

The Library Project

There are few things better to stimulate a child’s curiosity, creativity, and love of learning than a good book. For most of us, our kids grow up in homes full of bright, engaging reading material. But for many children in rural China, even their schools don’t have a library, or a place to sit and read independently. And that’s where The Library Project comes in. We talked to founder Tom Stader about their mission to turn unused classrooms into beautiful new reading rooms. 

The Lost Puppies of Beijing

In this series, we have mostly focused on those helping the people of this city, and particularly children in need. But our furry friends need our help too, and particularly the doggoes. So we talked to our friend and former beijingkids staffer Auna Harris about the kind souls behind The Lost Puppies of Beijing.

Fitness 4 Hope

In our busy urban lives, staying fit and active is important. Thanks to a team of enthusiastic volunteers, there are now opportunities to do this while helping a good cause too. We talked to Pablo Arriba about Fitness 4 Hope (F4H), the volunteering organization which he founded.

Bethel China

China has transformed beyond imagining over a couple of generations, modernizing and developing at a rate previously unseen in history. But in a few areas, old-fashioned ideas persist, and rarely with such sad consequences as in attitudes to disabled children. However, there are many, locals and foreigners, working hard to change attitudes and transform lives. We spoke to Allie Haaz, English-language spokesperson for Bethel China, to find out more about one such organization.

Migrant Children Foundation (MCF)

Christmas is always a time to think about children: our own and those in need. Few children are more in need than China’s so-called “migrant children,” who have come with their parents in search of a better life in the city, but have no right to education or other support here. And few have done more to help these innocents than the Migrant Children Foundation (MCF). We talked to Helen Boyle about the Foundation’s work.

Chemistry lessons provided by MCF won a national competition

Clothing Auction Network

New Zealander Rebecca Archer has been in Beijing since 2013, but it was an idea she brought from home which has taken off and is now set to expand across the world. We asked her to tell us more about the Clothing Auction Network.

Photos: courtesy of HOPE, Nichole He, courtesy of Auna Harris, courtesy of Fitness 4 Hope, courtesy of Allie Haaz, courtesy of MCF, Dave’s Studio, Rebecca Archer