Dad Thilo Butter is from Germany and mom Wang Jin is a Tianjin native. The couple has been in Beijing since 2018. While both parents work as mechanical engineers in German automobile companies, mom is currently taking the fabled German extended maternity leave (three years for each child) to accompany dad to Beijing. The couple has two daughters, Vivien (age 4)  and Anabelle (age 2) who are both students at House of Knowledge International Kindergarten (HoK) in Beijing.

Dad’s favorite restaurant in Beijing is Steak House in Solana, but he also loves to cook and will bake cakes and cookies for the family almost every week as long as he has time.

Their favorite place to shop is Solana. It’s within walking distance from home and has almost everything the kids and grownups could want.

Their advice for new families to Beijing is to have the courage to discover the multi-cultural environment that’s unique to this city. Many foreign families will limit themselves to their international business circles but it’s actually more fun to dig deeper and get to know the city, like trying a local market instead of always going to one of the import supermarkets. For foreign children, try not to let them lose their own culture and languages. Putting your kids in an international school where they can make new friends from different countries with diverse cultures all while growing up in a trilingual environment like House of Knowledge lets them fully take advantage of their time in Beijing.

Their No. 1 house rule is cleanliness and hygiene at home. Always washing hands and changing clothes when coming back home is a top priority and also, putting away your toys before going to bed.

Mom’s favorite restaurant is Schindler’s Tankstelle for German food. But when it comes to Chinese food, mom prefers to cook herself.

Their favorite family activity is to do puzzles together.

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Photos: Uni You

This article appeared in the beijingkids 2020 November issue