Is traveling to China with a toddler hard? Yes. But not for the reason you think. It was hard because traveling to China is hard. It highlighted our dependence on internet access at all times (even with a VPN access to our usual sources of info–like Google Maps–was spotty). We don’t have a Chinese bank account, so we couldn’t utilize smartphone apps like WeChat to pay restaurant bills or Didi (the local ride share) to get around. We operated almost entirely in cash. And we don’t speak Mandarin, save my husband’s few phrases he remembers from his university Mandarin courses.
Sounds rough, right? But would we go again? ABSOLUTELY. Sign me up–when do we leave?
The BEST thing about traveling in China with my two-year-old was he got to watch us ADAPT. He spends his whole life adapting–that’s what toddlers do. They try to make sense of the world around them, problem-solve to execute simple tasks, and struggle to communicate with people who can only partially understand them. They find joy in routine and the familiar because they understand it. For once, they are the experts.
In China, he got to see how Momma and Dada handle being in the same situation in which he finds himself in daily. We were no longer the experts navigating daily life. He got to see us problem-solve. He got to see us try to communicate our needs with people around us who just couldn’t understand what we needed. And, most importantly, he got to see how we handled the exhausting frustration that comes along with constantly trying to understand the world around you and interact with it. And, he got to see the fruits of our efforts: how awesome China is once you cut through the complexity.
I wish I could say that my husband and I handled it with all with grace and patience–we didn’t. Some situations went better than others and we learned from that. But, our family values the challenges that come with being outside your comfort zone. Our son certainly got to witness this. And, we got a humbling reminder of what it is like to be a toddler, struggling to understand and cope with the world around you. I’m hoping this dose of empathy makes me a better parent.
Honestly a lot of travel situations are like this, right? This experience is not unique to China, but the dynamics of China turn the volume up. And I have no illusion that my two-year-old was watching us in various situations and mentally applying it to his everyday life. Or that he will even remember this specific trip. But our family travels and intentionally ventures outside of our comfort zone to broaden our perspectives and to learn. He is part of our family and therefore he does too. It’s no different than the fact he won’t remember all of the books we have been reading to him since birth. Our family reads to expand our horizons and therefore he does too.
Logistically, traveling in China was challenging–my first paragraph probably made it sound horribly intimidating. However, once we figured out some of the dynamics, we had a fabulous family holiday and learned a few fun things about traveling in China with a toddler:
- The Great Wall is an awesome place to practice running up and down hills and climbing stairs.
- I can change a dirty diaper while my son stands in the bathroom of a moving train.
- Char Siu Bao (Steamed BBQ Pork Buns) is actually a toddler friendly food. As is Peking Duck.
- It is possible to taste Chinese tea by dipping pretzel sticks
- A line will form to take photos with a child (especially with fair skin and light hair). And he will appear on numerous local people’s social media accounts.
