Thank you to those who have submitted their Horror Stories for the Jingkids Creative Writing Contest! If you have a story to share, you can still send it into us before Oct 28. Below is one of the entries for the competition, beware…!

He slowly approached the door, not ready to face what could be inside. But he plucked up his courage and opened it. There it was, the nightmare that he had been having for ages; the one with all the screaming, the one with all the blood on the wooden tiles, the one with that one headless baby crying his name, and the one where he knew that he was next.

He woke up with a jump. Of course, it was another dream. He rolled his eyes and checked the time. 1:29. Silently, he crept out of bed to get a glass of water, but realized that he was stepping on something sticky and gross. It was blood. But he did not care since he gets splinters every day from those wooden tiles. He checked the time again. 3:32. Did it just take 2 whole hours for me to get up? He thought.

“JOEYYY…”

He froze, unable to move one single muscle.

“JOEYYYYYYYY…” the voice continued. From the tone of the voice, he figured out that it was his baby brother trying to scare him again, so he turned around, and whacked him. But to his surprise, he hit too hard and knocked something off. It fell on the floor with a thud. Joey turned on the lights, and there it was; the blood on the floor, the baby’s head, the weird scream-

And then it all went black.

By Qingnuo Olivia Li (Grade 8, Harrow Beijing)

Images: Pexels

There are four main members of my family: my mum, dad, younger sister, and of course, me. Then there are three other furry members of my family: Pumpkin, Niu Niu, and Shadow. My mother is from Beijing and my dad is from Harbin. My sister and I were both born in Beijing, however, I went to England at a young age and actually found that adapting to life in England is quite a bit easier than adapting to life in China. Our family does a lot of things together such as playing games like poker and traveling.   

Mom says being the parents of two children is different and unpredictable.

Norah’s greatest achievement was winning an award for math.

According to Mom, the most annoying child in the family is Shadow (the cat).

Mom’s greatest achievement was passing the LAMDA exam Level 8 Gold with merit.

Olivia says the most annoying thing her parents have ever done was giving their dog away.

Mom said they named their daughter Norah because when she first started speaking she would always say “no.”

After dropping Norah and Olivia off at school, mom grabs a snack with some friends and then goes to the gym.

Mom says the reason she’s always so loud when Olivia’s friends are visiting is that they’re having a party and parties are loud!

Photo: Uni You

This article appeared in the jingkids 2021 July-August issue

Once Upon a Time… We asked students to come up with their own Beijing adaptation of their favorite childhood fairy tales. Thank you to all the students who have submitted their work. We’ll be publishing them online and selecting the best story that fits all the criteria to be included in the upcoming issue of Jingkids.

Snow White and The Seven Dwarves (With a Twist)

By: Olivia Li (age 11)

Not so long time ago, we all knew a ridiculously normal tale called Snow White which is about a perfectly ordinary human being that lives in a world where she lost her own mother and lives with her dad and an evil stepmother who is desperately mad because somehow her magic mirror told her that Snow White is more bootaful than her. And she was not letting her win what I call a ‘beauty pageant’ so she decided to have her poisoned and blah, blah, blah. Boring stuff.

But today, you are lucky enough to have me to tell you a more savage, more murder-like version. Well, here goes…

Twice upon a time, there was a spoiled and greedy little brat named Snow White. Her poor father spent ages trying to make her happy by buying her expensive designer clothes, Louis Vuitton bags, Starbucks matcha frappes (with extra whipped cream and sprinkles), and millions of iPhone 12s. But Snow White never stopped asking for more and more things. The person who struggled the most was her not-so-evil stepmother. She was forced to wash Snow Whites’s dirty undies every day, make crème pies with Snow White’s face on them, and clean Snow White’s enormously gigantic room every two hours. So finally, she and Snow White’s dad agreed to set her in a forest to get some peace. They’ve tried hard to convince her but —

“No! Who would go to a moldy forest when I could go buy more Louis Vuittons!?” screamed Snow White.

“Please! Just for one hour!” begged the stepmother.

“Daddy! This maniac has kidnapped me! She wants to break into my Hello Kitty bank and steal my money to buy all the merch at the Korean concert! Waaaah!”

That night, Snow White snuggled up in her blankie and fell asleep, but what she didn’t realize was that a group of dwarves were spying on her. Their names were Grumpy, Dopey, Doc, Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, and Sneezy.

“I heard that she has been a very naughty young lady, disobeying her parents,” one said.

“Your right, you know that her poor parents spent hours cleaning up after her ever since she was born.”

“You two chocolate chip muffins! That lady is not her real mum, her actual real mum died years ago because she got electrocuted whilst playing Xbox Mario Kart 2.”

“You dingbat dodo! Firstly, her real mum died of childbirth, which means that after she had her kid, she died, and next, that lady is her stepmother, which means that her father got-”

“Well, Mr. Smarty Pants, I’m sorry to interrupt your five-million-year-long lecture, but I don’t understand why we are here. I’m freezing, and I’ve got a hot pan of soup on the stove, it’s probably burning down our house now.”

“Oh my, everybody quickly! Charge!” said Doc. And then they left.

A few minutes later, they returned back, all a bit dizzy.

“You Ratsnitchit! You burnt our beautiful cottage made from cottage cheese! You evil cow!”

“At least I’ve got my delicious pan of tomato soup and thanks to the burn, it’s now coated with warm cottage cheese”

“Daddy! Daddy! There’s poisonous cheese outside my window! Waaah! And they’re walking and talking! Help!”, yelled Snow White. Her dad rushed in, holding a lacrosse racket from his kindergarten, and then her stepmother came in sleepily, bumping into her Snow White whilst holding onto a slightly wonky fishing net.

“How rude! Why did you bump into me?! You ought to buy me a hundred Louis Vuittons!”

“Oh, I do apologize for bumping into your face, but I will not be buying you one hundred Louis Vuitton bags, understood?”

“No?” asked Snow White, slightly terrified and offended. Her stepmother looked and felt as pleased as if she had trained a lion to use the human potty.

“But….” began Snow White, she was very terrified and even more offended. No-one had ever spoken to her like this before. Suddenly, she squealed and smirked.

“What’s wrong?” her stepmother asked.

“Nothing much.” Snow White hopped away, into her room. She was planning to go somewhere…

She already packed earlier, a camouflaged cape, her phone (fully charged which can last about 10 days), a hairbrush, her Ms. Piggy PJ’s, an apple, plenty of oat bars, fifty cans of canned beans, pens, a couple of note pads, poker cards, rubbing alcohol spray, a fork, an iPad, lucky charms (for luck), an eye mask, 100 packs of hand and body warmers, Miss. Suzy (her pet piglet), hay and pig treats, a lot of water, a blanket and pillows, a small tent, and a pocket knife. She did not bother to bring her toothbrush because who needs to brush their teeth when you’ve got a bag crammed with sweets and goodies? She quickly grabbed her bank full of millions of RMBs and skipped into the forest, carrying her backpack on her back, Miss. Suzy in a designer case in one of her hands, and a flashlight with fresh batteries in the other. She soon found the dwarves in the heart of the forest, building another cottage cheese cottage and decided to pitch her tent and spy on them. It was already getting dark, so she opened one can of canned beans and sat in her tent to eat. She loved that the canned beans have a slight taste of tomatoes, and she also gave Miss. Suzy some dinner. And then, they fell asleep. The next morning Snow White had planned to sneak into the cottage, so she quietly jumped in with her pig and got in. Suddenly, someone got her…

Okie Dokie, where are we, ah yes. Snow White froze. She felt cold and dusty fingers crawling around her, she didn’t dare to turn around, she just froze, as still as a statue.

“Welly well, who do we have here? Little Snow White huh?” said a mysterious voice. Snow White couldn’t talk. She just wanted to run back to her house, back to her room, back to her family. The mysterious figure smiled the creepiest smile.  Suddenly, the dust caught her nose and she achooed, shooting something out onto the bony fingers.

“Of course, if your parents have been teaching you manners, you would have used a hankie,” Mumbled the figure, wiping the bloody snot off its fingers with a yellow duck hankie. Snow White felt slightly annoyed.

“Who are you?” demanded Snow White, crossly.

“I am a professional kid hunter. I hunt kids that won’t listen to their parents and get themselves lost in the woods.”

“I am not a kid. I am eight years old and I’m a grown up now, technically 24 years old, a tweenager,” blabbed out Snow White without thinking.

“Oh, I see,” answered the figure, confused. “And I am the amazing kid hunter um, uh, well…TIREDOFHERKIDSNOWWHITE’SBEHAVIOUR! Uh, in other words, uh step mommy?!” Snow White realised that kid hunter sounded just like her stepmother, and she was ready to rip her wig off to reveal her face even though she had no idea why is she doing it, but she did it anyway.

“Hands off the wig, you!” But it was too late. Snow White had really heavy hands and whilst she yanked the wig off, she also pulled down most of the actual hair. Now we end with a bald stepmother and Snow White who is dead ferocious. Now, do you like my jazzy new version written today, or would you prefer the old classic version? Maybe an even more savage version is coming out in a few years…… hmmmm.

THE END

Olivia Li is an 11 years and 5 months old girl from Beijing but spent her early years mainly in Scotland. She’s currently a Year 6 student at Harrow Beijing. Li’s hobbies include acting, horse riding, reading, looking after her pets (two cats, one dog, nine fish, and one dead mosquito that has been stuck on her bookshelf for a year), adult-sitting, shopping, collecting blind box figures, drawing, fishing, exploring and decorating her room.

Images: Pexels

The sun peers through tinted windows, as the melody of birds chirping stirs you awake. No, this is not Snow White, it’s a scene from a Chinese painting. Atop this misty mountain lies your small cabin, endless streams, fairy waterfalls, blooming petals, and sky-tall trees. The moss-covered rocks shimmer under the sun’s glow. Overflowing streams of purity exist only for attainable peace. I used to live through that world, every weekend. For the past five years, I took Chinese painting classes every week, immersing myself in the world of water and paint.

Olivia Li in class

Chinese painting has various forms and types and is also closely tied in with Chinese calligraphy. When it comes to types of art, it is split into gōngbǐ (工笔) and xiěyì (写意). Gongbi paintings tend to be highly detailed and meticulous, often with long, smooth lines of flowers or birds. Xieyi, on the other hand, is much more abstract. Instead of going through every line and color, the painting will have broader shapes, and certain aspects of objects, such as mountains, will be exaggerated to a recognizable degree. There are two main forms for Chinese painting: Shānshuǐ (山水) and Huāniǎo huà (花鸟画). Shanshui paintings mainly involve drawing landscape sceneries. They will usually always contain mountains, trees, and a form of water. More advanced paintings also have misty clouds, giant waterfalls, villages, and one or two people. On the other hand, Huāniǎo huà focuses on animals and flora. Paintings of a specific flower will sometimes be accompanied by a cute bird or two, and it’s much more zoomed in on the main focus than landscape Shanshui. While it is still up to debate, I consider Rénwù (人物) as part of Huaniao. Renwu paintings mainly portray humans often in dynamic poses. They will be accompanied by decorations such as small animals or flora, and thus is considered as a part of Huaniao by some people. They can also stand alone as a new category because of the many characters to explore.

By Olivia Li

I initially approached Chinese painting as a kind of project to complete. My good friends had been painting for four years ahead of me, and their products looked amazing, thus compelling me to try it out too. Admittedly, the base level techniques and paintings were rather ugly and boorish, but it was those fundamental skills of how to draw the simple shapes and strokes that allowed me to evolve my art into what it is today. What’s more is that the message behind Chinese painting has inspired me to become more creative, and less hung up on perfection. Although the ideals may vary for Western art depending on the medium, the art form that I liked the most, realism, heavily emphasized having every detail down to touch and recreating the world we inhabit. On the other hand, Chinese painting focuses on understanding the spiritual meaning behind the painting and creating that same energy. I used to be hyper-fixated on making every detail perfect, blindly recreating what my teacher had drawn. Although I thought they looked pretty, I learned that the paintings felt lifeless because I could not understand the bigger concept behind it. It took some time to finally grasp how the twist of a tree could seem free, how a few dabs of water could let clouds float, and how to make a painting that had meaning in it. Soon, I was able to improvise more than before. An accidental drop on the canvas could be changed into some pine thorns. An additional stroke made the painting more vibrant. The small things that once bothered me, and drove me to desperate perfection, became more ways to improve myself.

Chinese painting used to make me feel small and imperfect, like the mistakes I made. However, after I took more time to understand the greater aesthetic behind it, that close link of acceptance of oneself and the natural world, I was able to obtain a better mindset not only when it comes to art, but also life. Some day I would love to travel into one of my paintings, living free, feeling good.

KEEP READING: Beijingkids Presents Selected Artworks From ISB IB Art Students

Images: Courtesy of Olivia Li

This article appeared in the beijingkids 2020 October issue

A dear friend’s birthday is coming up, but you just can’t decide what gift to buy them. After hours of trawling the aisles, you finally settle on something that is neither too cheap nor superficial. However, your friend takes one good look at your gift and frowns. Where have you gone wrong? While your intentions may have been good, gift-giving in China is a more delicate matter than one can imagine and it is surprisingly easy to cause offense with a clumsily-chosen gift.

In order to make your life easier, and preserve the special relationships you already have, we’ve rounded up a list of five everyday items you should never give as a gift in China.

Shoes

Traditional Chinese culture puts heavy emphasis on the appearance of homophones, so, for example, you will probably never see the number four (四 sì) on the elevator because it’s a homophone of the word death (死 sǐ). For the same reason, it is actually a great taboo to gift shoes. The pronunciation of shoe (鞋 xié) is homophonic with evil, demonic, or heretic (邪 xié), so giving someone shoes is considered synonymous to giving them evil spirits and bad omen. It also means you will probably lose contact with them soon after gifting the gift. However this taboo does not apply to family members or loved ones, so feel free to go all out and get them fancy shoes.

Clocks

Time is the most precious gift we have, right? Well not always in China. Giving someone a clock can be a big mistake, as the pronunciation of clock (钟表 zhōng biǎo) is homophonic to ending, termination, or death (终 zhōng), and can be especially offensive to older people, as it sounds like you are praying for their death. Furthermore, the act of gifting someone a clock (送钟 sòng zhōng) sounds like the custom of staying by a parent’s side right before their death or taking care of the funeral arrangements (送终 sòng zhōng). Thus, it is imperative that you steer away from clocks when choosing a gift, no matter how pretty they look.

On the other hand, although watches may have been taboo to gift for older generations, there are now mixed opinions on whether or not they are an appropriate gift. Some say that it means longevity with a loved partner or close friends, while a smaller group claim it has connotations of running out of time. If in doubt, try to discretely find out whether your friend is a traditionalist, or will appreciate a chic timepiece!

Umbrellas

It is very tempting to purchase an umbrella of vibrant colors and cute patterns, but it’s better if you keep that umbrella for yourself. Umbrella (伞 sǎn) is homophonic to parting or scattering (散 sǎn). You should never gift a close friend an umbrella because that can mean that the two of you will soon part ways. You are, however, exempt from the rule if you are bringing someone an umbrella in the rain. That’s just good manners.

Hats

During the school year, eight-year-old Yohan Geevarghese was assigned the task of creating picture books. What initially appeared to be merely more homework blossomed into a full-on new interest. Over the summer, young Geevarghese was able to create many books out of pencils, paper, and bursting creativity. With a young writer this adorable, we had to find out more!

Can you tell us what your stories are about?

My first book is about a high school boy named Tim and his dog named Nile. They travel around the world, and they always have trouble wherever they travel, and they always have a solution. In one of my books, they went to India, and they tried to go to one of the history museums, but it was closed. So the driver had the idea of going to the Taj Mahal. Now, I’m starting a new book that is called Ben, Ace, and Jen. Ben is a boy who works for the CIA, Jen is a girl who works for the CIA, and Ace is their dog. And they’re called the Silver Three! They work for the CIA as agents.

Where do you get the ideas from?

In my new series, for the Silver Three, I watched a lot of spy movies, probably a million times! So I thought maybe I should draw it, a spy book. For Tim and Nile,  there’s this nice guy that I met, and he came here for a debate competition at Tsinghua International School (THIS) where my mom works. My family went to dinner with him and we had a good time, so I thought maybe I should name the character after Tim!

What do you like about the entire process?

I like mostly the imagination, and also the hard part of it. It’s quite amazing, and it takes very long to write my book. I’m serious-super, very long, maybe a week or two?

What else have you been doing this summer?

I have been awesome! I watch TV of course, I play with my toys, I’m taking ukulele lessons, and I started to learn taekwondo.

Behind every young creative is a supportive parent. We interviewed mom Benita Sumita on her thoughts about her son’s newly discovered hobby.

Do you think these stories benefit your child’s creativity?

Creativity is a natural part of getting your kid to write their own stories. But, this summer project is much more because it gets them to practice and build their language skills, practice spelling, and keep them focused on a single task for increasingly longer stretches of time. I believe it gives kids a unique sense of satisfaction to have completed their own project. The only role we play as parents is to ask questions when Yohan gets stuck, or has writer’s block.

Were you surprised by anything he created? What was your favorite part/story he came up with?

The way he thinks of problems and solutions are quite interesting, especially in his first series – Tim and Nile. The series is realistic fiction, and sometimes the problems are simple and relatable. My favorite is his first book, which he wrote in the second semester of the last school year – A Trip to the Zoo. It was such a simple problem of Tim’s phone running out of battery as he was following directions to the zoo, and finding a solution as easy as rushing to the nearest bus stop to find a map to get to the zoo.

Any words of wisdom for other parents about this activity? Would you recommend it?

Like Yohan mentioned, writing a book takes a while and coming up with the idea, the characters and the plot takes even longer. Be patient. Parents don’t have to watch over the kid’s shoulder but check in on them especially if they are younger kids. There were times when I have checked up on Yohan after 30 minutes and he was just staring out the window. What started off as contemplation, derailed into daydreaming. These things happen, we just need to put them back on track.

What are some activities for kids you recommend when they can’t travel?

I would recommend activities that involve the whole family – at the moment we have started a 2000-piece jigsaw puzzle. We spend an hour on it every day, some days lesser when the pieces start getting blurry and look all the same.

Click here to download Yohan’s book.

KEEP READING: West Meets East: Parents From Different Cultural Backgrounds Share Their Thoughts on Summer Activities

Photos：Courtesy of Benita Sumita, Photo by Alexander Dummer on Unsplash

According to the Australian police, a number of Chinese students in Sydney were recently targeted in a scam in which they were forced to “kidnap” themselves, and ask their parents for ransom. In one case, a frantic father sent USD 2 million to the scammers. According to Australian police Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett, some “[families]have basically paid every cent they’ve got.”

The Australian government official reports that there have been a total of 8 cases reported, with over USD 3.2 million transferred to the blackmailers. The scams appear to have been conducted through encrypted apps such as WeChat or WhatsApp, making them more difficult to trace. The victims were usually first approached by a Mandarin-speaking person, who pretended to be from the Chinese authorities or Embassy, and told that they were involved in a crime back in China.

Students are coerced into faking kidnapping pictures

The scammers then threatened the students, saying that the only way to get out of trouble was to pay a huge ransom, lest they be arrested or deported. If the students were not initially convinced, the scammers then continued the harassment with more threats, until the victims complied. The victims were told to move into a hotel and pose for a kidnapping picture, or send a voice mail to their families in China asking for help. 

A student bounded in a hotel room

After making contact with their families, they were then instructed to cut off any contact with the outside world, and to stay in the hotel, thereby cutting them off from their families, who may have helped them realized that they were being scammed.

Most of these cases were not initially reported to the police because the victims felt embarrassed. While the scammers are yet to be caught, the Australian police are currently working with Chinese forces to break the case.

KEEP READING: What to Expect When You’re Filing a Police Report in Beijing

Pictures: via AFP, Fox News

Have you ever been pushed past your limit, and almost bit your tongue off instead of unleashing profanities? Have you ever been overwhelmed with guilt because you couldn’t hold back from swearing, and now feel that you have corrupted your child? Do you miss being able to use the occasional well-chosen curse word to get your points across? Parents fear not – it’s actually okay to curse.

Has this beautiful scene ever appeared in your nightmares before?

… But only under certain circumstances. According to most research, swearing at your kid is never acceptable. Research has found that verbal abuse is psychologically damaging to children, and also sets a bad example. Offensive slurs are also unacceptable and can shift the way your kid perceives certain minorities. However, cursing in front of your kid in reaction to a frustrating ordeal, or because you accidentally stubbed your toe is perfectly fine. Now, let’s address the fear parents inhibit when it comes to cursing one by one:

Children will become violent and aggressive after hearing profanities

According to Benjamin Bergen, a cognitive scientist at UC San Diego, there is no exact proof that “exposure to ordinary – four-letter words – causes any sort of direct harm: no increased aggression, stunted vocabulary, numbed emotions or anything else.” He admits that he used to tippy-toe around cursing once his son reached a certain age, but now doesn’t even sweat it when he drops an f-bomb in front of his kid.

They will use the curse words against you with malicious intent

Again, Bergen cites one observational research study conducted to see what children use profanities for. The study revealed that children from age 1-12, who naturally dropped thousands of taboo curse words, almost none were used for harmful intents. While they may have uttered it many times, it was usually used for non-harmful purposes, such as comedic effect. Of those instances, it rarely led to negative consequences, and none of them led to physical violence. 

Your kid will spit out curse words in public and in school

The fear that your kid will randomly show-and-tell the new curse word they learned is valid. Without truly understanding the context of the word, they may use it just for fun, or try to puppet whatever you are saying. In this case, many parents suggest to ignore them when they utter profanities. Instead of giving them attention for doing something typically considered as wrong, you can praise them when they are polite and follow social etiquette. Although not required, it may be better than not to refrain from punishing your kid. Take it from a rebellious teenager – the more you restrict us from doing something, the more we will want to do it. Alternatively, you can try to educate them on the matter calmly, and help them understand that cursing once in a while for fun is acceptable in the house, but should rarely be done in public. Studies show that kids will eventually understand context, and come to know when and how to use these words.

A deeper look into your child’s brain

There are, of course, flaws in the data used in these various research. No one has ever conducted a controlled experiment related to this topic, because it is highly unethical to expose a young child to constant profanity, so take all the research with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, what you choose to do with your kids is up to you. A parent that does not wish their kids to learn profanities can simply choose to refrain from doing so, and become more aware of what vocabulary they use. For those that tend to become guilt-ridden after letting one slip through, chill out. Parenting is hard, and you’re doing your best.

KEEP READING: Grandfather’s Tsampa Isn’t for Everyone, but It Means the World to Me

Images: NBC News, Parentology

China is (thankfully) not well known for anti-vaxxers, it has had its fair share of turmoil when it comes to vaccines. Before the Vaccine Administration Law was passed on December 1, 2019, so-called ‘underground clinics’ did a roaring trade distributing the latest foreign vaccines before they had been giving official approval in China, sometimes even upon the recommendation of public hospitals. In 2011 however during a government crackdown on the practice, one such clinic, Meihua Clinic received an “administrative punishment” for distributing the illegal vaccines and in 2017, their founder was prosecuted and sent to jail.

Although Meihua’s legal team claims that the children injected with the vaccine showed no complications, other companies did not fare so well. Back in 2018, Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences Ltd. was exposed for selling thousands of unregulated vaccines, which left children with permanent disabilities. 

Do vaccine schedules apply to everyone the same?

The topic of mandatory vaccines sometimes comes up in parenting groups, with foreign passport holders wondering if their children have to get the same shots as Chinese children, particularly if they are planning to leave the country soon after the birth of their child. To get some clarity on the vaccines topic, we spoke to Dr. Wennie Balawis, a pediatrician at Oasis International Hospital here in Beijing.

Although different countries do have different regulations and mandatory vaccines, Dr. Balawis says that the same schedule applies to all children in China, regardless of nationality.

“Here in China, we follow one vaccine schedule for everyone as recommended by the Chinese CDC. The recommended primary vaccinations here are almost the same as in any other country. Actually, each city or province will have slightly different policies – but with the same vaccines – but the main framework of vaccination guidelines is still coming from the Chinese CDC.” She adds that the main difference is that the timing of administration (what age they are given), and if or how the vaccines are grouped together.

“Some countries like most European countries do not give certain vaccines like BCG because tuberculosis disease that this vaccine prevents is not endemic in these countries. On the other hand, other countries recommend certain vaccines that are not necessary in China, for example, yellow fever vaccine because this disease is not prevalent here.”

Ok, so we have to get vaccines in China. But which ones?

Dr. Balawis explains that in China, vaccines are divided into two categories: Category 1 vaccines are mandatory for all children, and free of charge as the cost of vaccinations is borne by the government. Many kindergartens will not accept kids without their shots. Category 2 vaccines are not obligatory, and the cost is borne by the parents of the child being vaccinated. However, Dr. Balawis stresses that they are highly recommended. 

Category 1 Vaccines

We’ve also translated this handy chart from the National Immunization Program at the Chinese Center of Disease Control, which breaks down Category 1 Vaccines in the order of when your child must get them, as many vaccines require multiple follow-up ‘booster’s hots.

After Birth: Hepatitis B (1st); Bacille-Calmette-Guerin vaccine (BCG) for tuberculosis
One Month Old: Hepatitis B (2nd)
Two Months Old: Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV)
Three Months Old: Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV); Diphtheria, Tetanus, acellular Pertussis vaccine (DTaP) (1st)
Four Months Old: OPV (2nd), DTaP (2nd)
Five Months Old: DTaP (3rd)
Six Months Old: Hepatitis B  (3rd), Meningococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine (MPSV-A) (1st)
Eight Months Old: Measles (1st), Japanese Encephalitis – Live (JE-L) vaccine (1st), JE-1 (1st and 2nd)
Nine Months Old: MPSV-AC (2nd)
Eighteen Months Old: DTP (4th), Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) (1st), HepA-L (1st); HepA-I (1st)
Two Years Old: JE-L (2nd); JE-I (3rd); HepA-I (2st)
Three Years Old: MPSV-AC (3rd)
Four Years Old: OPV (3rd)
Six Years Old: DT (1st); JE-I (4th); MPSV-AC (2nd)

Thanks largely to vaccinations, polio cases worldwide have decreased by over 99% since 1988

Category 2 Vaccines

Category 2 vaccines include coverage of some rarer diseases that are not considered endemic in China, such as rabies, Cholera, and Human Papilloma Virus.

Other than providing additional coverage for your children by giving your child Category 2 vaccines, Dr. Balawis says there are other advantages including the fact that more vaccines are grouped under single treatment, thereby reducing the number of visits to the doctor that a child must make.

She cites the Category 2 ‘Pentaxim’ (DTaP-IPV-HiB) vaccine as a good example, as in one go it covers children for multiple maladies. To get the same mandatory vaccines in Category 1, the child would have to go in for at least 3 separate shots.

As with everything relating to children’s health, parents are advised to discuss their options in detail with a trusted pediatrician.

KEEP READING: “So You Want to Become a Doctor?”: Facing the Reality of Medical School

Images: Aditya Romansa (via Unsplash), Wikimedia Commons