It’s been a restless 2017 for our team in terms of traveling. In my case, I embarked on a year-long trip across China and Europe, but I also made surprising discoveries and met a lot of awesome people. My colleagues, on the other hand, gave their thoughts and experiences about amazing (and sometimes funny) family-friendly areas in the city and nearby provinces.

When I continued the Beijing Bucket List series, I was thinking of using my free weekends to explore the city and make recommendations for families and young adults. Now, the travel section on our website has grown to have several series: China (and Beijing) Bucket List, Family Day Out, Weekend Warrior, Travel Stories, and Subway Sunday, all reflecting the vibrancy of Beijing expat life.

It’s not too late for you and family to explore the capital. Here we list our best travel blogs to help you get started in planning (note that some of them are seasonal or already finished). After all, you have 365 days to explore this beautiful city and China and the world! If you find other wonderful family-friendly spots in town, or any stories about family travel, we welcome you to write about them and be featured in any of our travel series!

January 2017

Beijing: Icefall at Taoyuan Xiangu and Huanghuacheng Great Wall (both in Miyun District)

If the cold never bothers you (anyway), then have some frozen delights at the iced waterfall attraction in Taoyuan Xiangu scenic area (桃源仙谷冰瀑) in Miyun District (first picture below).

And for those who have already gone to the more “touristy” Great Wall sections like Mutianyu and Badaling, the Huanghuacheng (lake-side part) of the wall is an amazing sight without the usual crowds.

February 2017

Hebei Province: The Molten Iron Performance at Nuanquan (Hot Spring Town) in Zhangjiakou

Shining, shimmering, splendid. That’s probably the best way to describe a bright spectacle, akin to a fireworks display, that happens in the ancient town of Nuanquan in Zhangjiakou City (河北省张家口蔚县暖泉镇), just west of Beijing.

Heilongjiang Province: A Winter Weekend in Harbin

Winter was coming to an end when my colleague Annie Wang went to Harbin in February. So instead of the -30 degrees Celsius that they had expected, the temperature stood at a “cool” -12 degrees Celsius, still low enough to freeze toes and tears without the proper attire!

March 2017

Beijing: A Trip to the Great Wall with Mister Dong

My colleague Pauline’s wish for my birthday was to visit the Great Wall of China. When she asked around in  WeChat groups, that one name that always popped up is Tom Dong, who seemed to be taking lots of people up to the wall.

Beijing: In Search of Buried Treasure at the Ming Tombs

The Killeens decided to round out our tour of Beijing’s imperial heritage, with a trip to the Ming Tombs, where they opted for hiring a bus with a group, which was a great thing… especially because the tomb site was huge!

April 2017

Beijing: The Killeens View More Colors of Chinese Art at the National Art Museum of China

The Killeen’s previous family samplings of Beijing’s artistic offerings have been in the hip and funky/commercialized tourist areas of 798 and Caochangdi. So Dad Andy wondered how his kids would respond to the more formal setting of the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC)…

Shandong Province: The Story of the “Eight Immortals” on Long Island

This was the second entry in my month-long A to Z Challenge, in which I blogged 30 travel articles in April. It was also my first trip to Shandong Province. While on the way to Miaodao village, or technically one of the islands that compose the county, our tour manager shared with us a folk story that happened there over a thousand years ago…

May 2017

Beijing: His Sweet and Classy Surprise Staycation at Nuo Hotel

Former managing editor Vanessa blogged about the surprise staycation from her husband, Bobby. After their date, Bobby brought her to a mystery location, which was later revealed as one of the restaurants at Nuo Hotel.

Beijing: Biking, a Ride or Die Experience

Pauline’s Beijing escapades continued with her story about bikes. “I have stopped holding on to my heart because there is really nothing we can do, but smile, and enjoy the wild ride Beijing is taking us on,” she said of the wild ride on the city streets.

June 2017

Beijing: Liyuan Library, Experiencing Beijing’s Most Instagrammable Reading Haven

Managing editor Kipp went to Huairou district to get a feel of the wonderful library that is Liyuan for our Weekend Warrior column in the magazine. It was good while it lasted — because the library was shut down by the authorities in September, following complaints about pirated and uncensored material. We’re not sure if this is a permanent thing as recent reports have stated otherwise, but it still a great day trip during the spring months.

Beijing: Futuristic Lights Extravaganza on Display in 798 Art District

A part of 798 Art District shimmered when a foreign company brought its light exhibition. But the feat of this extravaganza was that it challenged the imagination and perception of reality of the visitors. Many of my WeChat friends, in fact, used the pictures they took at the exhibition as their profile photos!

July 2017

Beijing: Camping on the Great Wall

One of my first Beijing bucket list items that I ticked off was a visit to the Great Wall. Now that I’ve visited three sections of the wall in Beijing (Badaling, Mutianyu, and Huanghuacheng), that bucket list became expanded with another thing about the Great Wall: camping.

Beijing: Family-Friendly Staycation at EAST Hotel

After a long two weeks of a husband working non-stop, Pauline thought to find out if the rest of EAST Hotel was as child-friendly as the weekend brunch. True enough, she felt at home in the hotel situated in Lido, which she likened to as the new Sanlitun.

August 2017

Jiangsu Province: Zhouzhuang: Around a Water Town

The Killeens went south to Zhouzhuang, one of the oldest of the “water towns” which lie between Shanghai and Suzhou. Like Venice, a network of canals criss-crosses this ancient settlement, and flat-bottomed punts with a remarkable similarity to gondolas still throng the waterways – although these days it’s almost entirely for the benefit of tourists.

Beijing: The “Joyous” Pavilion on a Breeding Ground for Mosquitoes near Taoranting Subway Station

In one of my Subway Sunday articles, I went to a station named after a park that used to be the breeding ground for mosquitoes. Okay, so why on earth would we go to such place? It may not be as majestic as other imperial palaces in Beijing, but the park gives you a sense of what a “downgraded” Summer Palace is.

September 2017

Tianjin: The City that Is Overlooking the World

Pauline and her family went to neighboring Tianjin, where she recounted experiencing everything the city had to offer. They boarded the Tianjin Eye, China’s “answer” to the London Eye. Pauline said she never rode the expensive London Ferris wheel so she took the chance to sit on its Chinese counterpart.

Beijing: Applying for a Russian Visa in Beijing? You Really Need to Read This

Andy (not me, but our senior editor) had had a fair share of a visa nightmare when he applied for one at the Russian visa center. To help others planning to go to Russia, he wrote this article detailing what went wrong and what to do next.

October 2017

Beijing: Best Picks for Family-friendly Camping Grounds

Our blogger Rebecca shared with us one of the things that she love most about living in Beijing: the opportunity to take her young family camping. She rounded up her favorites — a mere 1.5 to 2 hours drive from the city center.

Beijing: Four Fun Family-Friendly Farms to Pick Seasonal Autumn Fruit

Our resident Weekend Warrior Kipp recalled his childhood memories of long car rides that featured roadside attractions: fruit vendors and farms. This feel can be recreated in Beijing, thankfully, in an autumn weekend trip to the city outskirts.

November 2017

Philippines: The Encyclopedia that Inspired Me to See the World

After four weeks of loitering in Europe, I went back to my home country and revisited the source of my travel escapades: the encyclopedia set that my mother brought when I was young. That 10-volume set of encyclopedias basically widened my view of the world.

Athens, Greece: When Black Cats “Ruined” My Trips in Athens

I had a lot of remarkable experiences on my trip to Greece, but there was this certain part that made it more interesting: that black cats had been present before an untoward incident. But are these felines to be blamed whenever bad things happen to us? Ancient beliefs may have an answer to that…

December 2017

Beijing: Finding Ultimate Relaxation at the Perimeter of the City

Beijing’s winters are nothing to scoff at. In this magazine article, our resident Weekend Warrior Kipp rounded up several options for weekend trips and staycations within the city proper or a relatively short train or car ride away.

Toledo, Spain: Finding Your Power Source

My experience with fellow family travelers outshone every bit of outstanding feat the medieval city of Toledo had to offer to me when I visited there. I recounted the incident when I shared my power source with the wrong people.

Photos: Kipp Whittaker, Andy Penafuerte, Andrew Killeen, Pauline van Hasselt; courtesy of EAST Hotel, Vanessa Jencks, Annie Wang, Rebecca Archer, Commune, visitmysmokies.com

This past weekend I went with a group on a trip to Harbin in Heilongjiang Province. We walked and gazed in wonder, but luckily (contrary to previous expectations) we did not freeze. Winter is coming to an end and as such Harbin is starting to warm up. So instead of the -30 degrees Celsius that we had expected, the temperature stood at a cool -12 degrees Celsius. That’s still low enough to freeze toes and tears without the proper attire though, so packing more sweaters is still a safe bet, especially if you or your kids are sensitive to the cold. Beijing to Harbin was the perfect weekend trip.

We rolled out at 8:50am on Saturday morning and took various planes and trains the following night to get back to Beijing. That gave us a little less than two days of fun, which was more than enough time to see two of the main attractions on Sun Island: The Ice & Snow World and the Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo. Ice & Snow World is best visited at night, since the edifices and the entire area are illuminated with a magical fluorescent tint. The snow sculptures are a daytime adventure.

Some of the life-size castles featured at Ice & Snow World.

For those aiming to avoid crowds, these last two weeks of February may be the best time to visit Harbin’s icy wonderland (though the sculptures are starting to melt). When we visited, the crowds at the snow sculptures were sparse. At the Ice & Snow Festival, KFC and Pizza Hut were the most crowded places, but there was little hustle or bustle around the actual ice sculptures themselves.

We stayed a ten-minute walk away from Harbin’s Central Street (中央大街, Zhōngyāngdàjiē), a cobblestone, pedestrian road that lined with shops and restaurants. The area is a fifteen-minute drive away from the snow sculptures on Sun Island and about a thirty-minute drive away from Ice & Snow World.

On the first (and only) night when we made our way to Ice & Snow World, we saw massive ice castles, long ice slides, and people of all ages kicking up snow as they sled throughout the park.

Ice & Snow World with people sledding alongside a walkway of paper and plastic lanterns.

Plastic sleds are a must for Ice & Snow World. If you don’t want to bring your own, it would be smart to purchase them before entering the park as prices inside double from the original RMB 10 to RMB 20 or even RMB 40. That also depends on the type of sled you want to purchase.

It’s best to visit the snow sculptures during the day when they are the most visible.

A snow sculpture on Sun Island of a large snow cube with snowflakes carved out on the sides and a snow statue of a girl in the center.

Heilongjiang Province borders Russia, and as such you can find the influence of Russian culture in the area’s food and architecture. When not visiting ice and snow art, we stopped by St. Sophia Orthodox Church and also made our way down Harbin’s Central Street (中央大街, Zhōngyāngdàjiē).

Harbin’s Central Street during the afternoon.

St. Sophia Orthodox Church was built in the 20th century to accommodate Orthodox Christians who were living around Harbin at that time. The church is now a museum and visitors can enter after purchasing an entrance ticket.

A shot of St. Sophia’s Cathedral from the plaza.

During this time of year in Harbin, smaller ice and snow sculptures are spread all around the city. During our post-dinner stroll down Harbin’s Central Street, we saw small ice slides and unique ice sculptures.

An ice sculpture of the prevalent Nongfu Springs Water brand.

Artists from countries around the area also partner to design and build the snow and ice sculptures. We witnessed a variety of different cultures and artistic styles while walking through and observing the snow sculptures on Sun Island.

Considering the sparse vacation schedule that most adults have in China, a weekend getaway to Harbin or other cities close to China is highly recommended. Sleeper trains make the trips feel very adventurous if that’s your style, while planes make these trips more convenient. With the number of unique and exciting places to see around Beijing, I know more trips like these will be happening in my near future!

Photos: Erwin Li, Amber Li

On our recent trip to Harbin, we visited Polarland. This was Joseph’s choice of activity, as it was his seventh birthday, and he loves animals. In the aquarium section, the boys enjoyed marvelling at the fish, and I enjoyed watching the wonder on their faces. However as the visit went on I found myself more and more uncomfortable.

To see arctic wolves, which in the wild roam over a territory tens of kilometers across, languishing in a tank some fifty meters square was depressing. The polar bears appeared distressed, pacing and shaking their heads. When we reached the arctic foxes, one of Joseph’s favorite animals, he refused even to look at them.

The intended climax of a visit to Polarland is the sea lion show. A walrus and a sea lion performed the familiar tricks, clapping, catching rings, turning somersaults, mimicking human gestures with their flippers. The boys were hugely entertained, there appeared to be genuine affection between the trainers and the animals, which were rewarded with fish throughout. Nonetheless I felt queasy.

Obviously it’s not “natural” for mammals to repeat these activities on cue, four times a day. But humans are part of “nature”, and if the animals have adapted to these behaviors in exchange for being safe and well-fed, then it’s no weirder than many other cross-species relationships. Yet I was left with a sense that in some way, their behavior was not “dignified”.

From here, all sorts of difficult questions arise. Do animals have “dignity”, or is the idea anthropomorphic, in the same way that the walrus appears to be embarrassed when it puts its flipper over its eyes? Is there any rational basis for my feeling that fish in tanks are OK, but mammals aren’t?

Zoos defend their existence on the basis of educational value, and because they are preserving endangered animals. As a parent there is a selfish imperative to instill an understanding of the natural world in our children, and an even more selfish pleasure in watching their joy. Is it fair to deprive them of these experiences, or are we just making excuses to indulge ourselves?

Anybody who doesn’t follow a strict vegan lifestyle has to make decisions, about how they treat animals, or allow animals to be treated for their benefit. As I’ve written before, I have little sympathy with anyone who is squeamish about eating insects but buys eggs from battery hens. I am aware though that the lines I draw are more than a little arbitrary.

I was left with many questions but no answers. Towards the end of our visit, we came to the beluga whales. There are many who believe that cetaceans (whales and dolphins) should be legally recognised as people, granted the same rights and protections as human beings. One whale came to look at us through the glass, apparently displaying the same curiosity that motivated us. I was glad my children had the opportunity to see these beautiful creatures. But we didn’t stay to see them perform.

“You must go to the Ice City,” was one friend’s immediate response when I told him I was moving to China. I had never heard of Harbin’s Ice Festival (nor, to be honest, of Harbin), but when I saw the pictures, I knew this was something I had to experience.

The reality proved to be less dramatic than I imagined, though perhaps more fun. I’d envisaged something like Burning Man, where enormous wooden structures are erected in the middle of a remote desert, then ceremonially burned at the end of the festival. Harbin has something of the same celebration of impermanence, its ice buildings and snow sculptures only standing for a few weeks in January and February. Here however the sights are scattered at various locations across a busy city.

A cable car provides a great view while carrying you over the frozen Songhua river to Sun Island, which, along with several other tourist attractions, hosts the International Snow Sculpture Art Expo. You can also see sculptures at Ice And Snow World, Zhaolin Park and along the pedestrianized main street, Zhongyang Dajie.

A walk down Zhongyang Dajie is an essential part of any visit. In 1898 Harbin, then just an insignificant village, was selected as headquarters of the Chinese Eastern Railway, constructed by the Russian Empire across Chinese territory. Over the next twenty years the city expanded rapidly. The architectural and cultural influence of Russia is evident everywhere, but particularly in the center, where there are many fine old buildings in a variety of European styles.

At the end of Zhongyang Dajie you come to Stalin Park, which runs along the south bank of the river. Here steps lead down to another festival site, one with no admission fee: the river itself. The ice is bustling, a venue for skating, zorbing, bumper cars, and a variety of even sillier activities. This was perhaps our favorite location of the whole trip. Until you’ve sat in a tire and been towed at speed by a tractor across a frozen river, you haven’t lived.

Harbin is only 2 hours from Beijing by plane, and we had a great time traveling there cheaply on the overnight train. Costs can soon mount up though, as each site charges separately (and expensively) for admission. Watch out too for taxi scams: one driver didn’t turn on the meter until we insisted, and then took us not to our destination but to a seedy-looking office where he claimed we needed to buy tickets. (We paid him the fare to that point and made a hasty exit back to the main street to find another cab.) And at the height of winter it’s shockingly cold, averaging minus twenty in January. However when the ice castles are lit up at night, it’s utterly magical, and truly unlike anywhere else on earth.

We are heading for Harbin for the Ice Festival, and have decided to take the sleeper train. If you come from North America or Australia, this might not seem like such a novelty, but Britain is so small, you can hardly go anywhere that takes longer than forty winks. The boys are dizzily excited, and the most mundane things become thrilling innovations.
“This is a sofa! But it’s also a bed! It’s a sofa-bed!”

Joseph reclines luxuriantly on his bunk.
“This is the life,” he says.
“I always thought the life would be bigger,” Noah muses, surveying our cosy compartment. He tries to climb to the upper bunk, with little success, and has to be shoved up in undignified fashion. (It is only afterwards that we find the fold down steps by the door.)

Once aloft he is noisily delighted with his elevation, and Joseph becomes jealous. I tell him he can’t sleep up there, but I lift him up to see what it’s like.
“This is amazing,” Joseph says. “It’s like I’m exploring a different world.” He looks around. “Can I get down now?”
The voyage of discovery has taken around fifteen seconds, and there are still ten minutes till the train goes. Excitement risks degenerating into shenanigans.
“Now, what can we play with to pass the time?” Karen says in her brightest teacher voice.
“I’ve brought a tennis ball,” Noah announces proudly, and we all stare at him in disbelief.

Instead we play cards. The train outside the window begins to slide past.
“It’s moving,” Joseph says.
“No, we’re moving.”
Downtown Beijing at night I always find exciting. The city is a different place after dark, and when you have children it’s easy to forget this other side exists. Tonight the pyrotechnics are provided not only the neon lights but also by New Year fireworks, bursting and glittering to illuminate our departure. Joseph, cocooned in his bunk, gazes out of the window.
“This is just the best night of my life.”
Harbin has a lot to live up to.

Photos: Andrew Killeen