Beijing’s Ancient and Modern Family-Friendly Attractions

The city of Beijing takes itself pretty seriously and vast monuments like the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven can exhaust even the most patient child. That being said, Beijing has plenty of weird, wonderful and whimsical things that will delight children of all ages.

Seeing Red Sites

Tiananmen Square is the largest public square in the world and the scene of many major events in Chinese history. At the Chairman Mao Mausoleum, Mao’s embalmed body is the final addition to the Dead Communist Leader Triumvirate that includes Lenin in Moscow and Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi. Mao doesn’t look scary, or terribly real, but squeamish or young children might not find a corpse to be a vacation highlight. Goth teens shouldn’t miss it.

The sad tale of Beijing’s vanishing hutongs (alleys) and courtyard houses has been widely reported. Several companies offer tours of remaining hutongs by rickshaw and it’s not to be missed for a glimpse into Beijing’s historic past. Most tours also include a visit to the gigantic Bell and Drum Towers, which were used to tell the time (morning bell and dusk drum) from 1271 until the last emperor, Pu Yi, left the Forbidden City in 1911. The towers also offer spectacular panoramas of the city.

• These ceremonial drums are exhibited in the Drum Tower in Beijing.
• John Du

Modern Architecture in Old Beijing

Architecture buffs and kids who love the look of futuristic buildings will have their fill in post-Olympic Beijing. The Bird’s Nest (main stadium), Water Cube (aquatic center) and Central Chinese Television (CCTV) Tower are contemporary masterpieces designed by world-renowned architects.

The Beijing Aquarium is another architectural wonder: The world’s largest indoor aquarium is shaped like a mammoth conch shell. Children will enjoy the dolphin and sea lion shows that take place daily at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. After the show, kids can take close-up photos with the animals. Although the aquarium is located within the grounds of the Beijing Zoo, skip the zoo. The horrid condition in which the animals are kept, though improving, will just break your heart. If you want to see pandas, go to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. instead.

• The Beijing National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube, was built for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
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It’s a Small World After All

Before they were forced to clean up their act, officials at the Shijingshan Amusement Park saw no reason to let a little thing like trademark infringement get in their way. The park was populated with “coincidental” Disney wannabes including a Snow White look-alike trailed by seven Munchkins and a Mickey Mouse doppelganger that officials insisted was simply a “cat with big ears.” Alas, park officials bowed to international pressure, which makes it legal but less of a kick for parents. Nonetheless, if your kids like theme parks, this is a fun place to spend an afternoon.

At Beijing World Park, kids can tour the entire globe in an afternoon. The park has more than 100 miniature replicas of world monuments including the Egyptian pyramids, the Tower of London, the Eiffel Tower and the former twin towers of the World Trade Center.