China with kids

Enormous, hands-on and cheap, on its own metro stop. Half a day minimum and easily a full one.

Colonial facades on one bank, the skyline on the other, and a passenger ferry between them for a couple of yuan.

Rockeries, koi and a zigzag bridge, surrounded by a rebuilt old-town bazaar. Go at opening; it is shoulder to shoulder by eleven.

A drive-through safari section and a walking zoo in Pudong. A full day, and the best animal outing in the city.

The second-tallest building in the world, with the fastest lift. Twenty-seven dollars and a shorter queue than the Pearl.

The one children recognise from the skyline, with a glass floor. Fifteen dollars and a museum of old Shanghai in the base.

An aquarium in a park with a beluga pool. Smaller and much quieter than the Pudong one.

Chinese acrobatics staged as a full production. Ninety minutes, no dialogue, and genuinely astonishing.

Big touring exhibitions on the riverfront, with a window looking straight at the Bund. Fifteen dollars.

The largest castle of any Disney park and the Tron coaster. Weekdays outside Chinese school holidays are dramatically quieter.

The full outdoor park at Jinshan, opened 2025. An hour from the centre and aimed squarely at the under-tens.

One of the largest indoor ski domes in the world, out at Lingang. Real snow, hired gear, and no season to worry about.

430km/h for seven minutes, with the speed on a display in the carriage. Do it on the way in, with the luggage.

A block of 1930s lane houses turned into craft studios and tea shops. Tight, busy and much more interesting than a mall.

The Bund and Pudong from the water, fifteen dollars. Do it after dark — the point is the lights.

An open-top loop of the Bund, People's Square and Pudong for nine dollars. Useful on day one.

Canals, stone bridges and a rowed boat, an hour west, paired with the film park on this tour. Fifteen dollars.

Soup dumplings eaten carefully, and their pan-fried cousins eaten less carefully. Teach the spoon trick before the first bite.

Be at the gate for opening. By ten the pandas are asleep and by noon there is little to see.

A 71-metre Buddha carved into a cliff, seen from a boat or from a very steep staircase. The boat is easier with children.

A 3,000-year-old sacrificial site excavated in place, with the gold sun bird that is now the city's symbol. Ninety minutes, indoors.

The Three Kingdoms shrine next to Jinli street, ten dollars. Half an hour, and it explains the street you are about to eat on.

A large theme park in the north of the city with a water section in summer. The full day Chengdu otherwise lacks for children.

Bamboo chairs, a bottomless pot of tea and an ear-cleaner working the tables. Nothing happens for an hour, which is the point.

Masks swapped in a blink, plus fire-breathing and shadow puppets. An hour, and the face-changing alone justifies it.

A day at Dujiangyan or Wolong preparing food and cleaning enclosures. Not a cuddle — actual work, and better for it.

A museum where you grind the bean paste and cook a dish yourself. Eight dollars, and the mildest introduction to Sichuan food.

Traditional dress hired on the old street, with makeup and photographs if you want them. Children's sizes stocked.

The lit bridge and the Jinjiang river after dark, by boat. Short, cheap and the prettiest hour in the city.

Ask for the split pot so children have a clear broth beside the chilli one. Order fewer things than the menu suggests.

Rebuilt lanes of skewers, dandan noodles and sugar-painting stalls where a man draws animals in molten sugar. Evening is better.

The pandas at dawn when they are actually awake, then the bronze masks at Sanxingdui. The two best things in Sichuan in one day.

The 71-metre Buddha carved into the cliff, plus the sacred mountain. A long day with a lot of steps at the Buddha.

A 2,000-year-old irrigation system still in use, and a Taoist mountain. Quieter than the panda circuit.

The restored, less-crowded section, with a cable car up and a toboggan down. Seven dollars for the ticket; the transfers are the cost.

Six dollars, and you must book days ahead with passport numbers. Enormous and largely unshaded — start early and set a turnaround point.

Under three dollars, and the park around it is full of people dancing and playing cards at dawn. That is the real attraction.

A lake, a long painted corridor and a marble boat. Eleven dollars and far more walkable with children than the Forbidden City.

A multimedia acrobatics show built for visitors. Loud, wordless and about ninety minutes.

A shortened, subtitled programme in a teahouse theatre. Peking opera is an acquired taste; an hour of it is the right dose.

Contemporary art in a brick building with a garden built for wandering. Seventeen dollars, and out near the airport.

The largest Universal park in the world, with a Harry Potter castle. A full day, and queues are long on Chinese holidays.

The Pop Mart theme park in Chaoyang Park — the blind-box characters at full size. Twelve dollars and quite unlike anything else here.

Through the old lanes by pedicab with a stop in a courtyard house. The one part of old Beijing that is still lived in.

Court dress hired near the palaces, with hair and photographs. Children's sizes stocked and the backdrop does the rest.

A rebuilt walled town beneath a wild section of Wall, lit at night. Two hours out and the best overnight-feeling day trip.

A reopened seaside aquarium in the east of the city. Twenty-four dollars and pairs with the beach beside it.

The observation floor of the Ping An tower, 116 storeys up. Twenty-five dollars and rarely queued.

A working farm park on the northern edge, six dollars. Animals, fields and space, which the rest of Shenzhen does not have.

The Guangzhou landmark, an hour up the line. Twenty dollars, and the bubble tram round the rim is the part children want.

A large aquarium inside a Guangzhou mall, with polar animals. Nineteen dollars and entirely indoors.

The Chimelong circus at Zhuhai, staged in a purpose-built arena. No animals doing tricks in the acrobatic acts, which is worth knowing.

The big theme park in the middle of the city — coasters, a water section in summer, and a metro stop at the gate.

An indoor snow park with real snow and hired gear, nineteen dollars. Reliable relief from the heat.

Trampolines, foam pits and a ninja course. Twenty dollars for a timed session.

The indoor play chain that is in half the malls here. Twelve dollars, aimed at the under-eights, and there is one near wherever you are staying.

One of the biggest water parks in the world, at Guangzhou. Ten dollars off-season and packed in summer.

The newer Chimelong park at Zhuhai — indoor, space-themed and enormous. A full day, reachable by bridge from Hong Kong or by ferry.

The Zhuhai water park, and seven dollars. Cheap enough to be worth a day even if you only use half of it.

A proper indoor kart track with junior karts, eighteen dollars a session.

Guangzhou's river after dark, past the lit tower. Sixteen dollars and about an hour.

Eighteen dollars for the museum itself. Three pits, thousands of figures, and every face different — which is the thing to tell a child before you go in.

The seventh-century pagoda built to house sutras brought back from India. Eleven dollars, and the square outside has a fountain show at night.

A quieter museum in a temple garden, eight dollars with a guide. Better paced for children than the provincial museum.

A museum about how digging works rather than what was found — tools, layers, methods. Fifteen dollars and genuinely different.

A large Tang-themed garden park, best after dark when the whole thing is lit and there are performances. Thirty-six dollars.

An outdoor staged epic at the Huaqing hot springs, using the hillside as scenery. Thirteen dollars and a late finish.

A large indoor stage production about the first emperor. Fifty-six dollars, and it helps to have done the warriors first.

A theme park built around the Monkey King story, fourteen dollars. If a child knows the story at all, this is the stop that lands.

Tang dress hired near the pagoda, fifteen dollars with makeup and styling. Half the people in the Tang quarter are wearing it.

Roujiamo, biangbiang noodles and persimmon cakes, with a guide to say what things are. Ten dollars, and go hungry.

A dumpling banquet with a Tang court music and dance programme. Touristy, and it holds a child better than a restaurant would.

The same site with transport and a guide, thirty dollars. Worth it here more than almost anywhere — without the story it is pottery in a shed.