Yes, Beijing is worth it with kids. But in my honest opinion, it’s better suited for kids 5 and older, and I say that because we went there with a 3-year-old. I’ll explain more on that below.
My wife and I moved to Beijing in January 2019 and lived there for 2 years. Our first year was a modern apartment in Chaoyang. The second year we moved into a traditional courtyard house in a hutong near the Lama Temple, about 4 kilometers above the Forbidden City. On some mornings we could smell the incense coming from the temple.
Then we went back with our son when he was 3, in October. We walked him down the streets we used to live on, and that was a strange and really nice feeling! We visited the big attractions again too, but this time at a toddler pace.
The short answer: Beijing is one of the safest big cities I have ever lived in, it is also very affordable, and the big attractions are enormous open spaces where kids can just run. October was a great month for it, and the air quality was fine. The more difficult part for us was the hutongs, where the alleys are narrow, delivery scooters drive around, and a busy crowd and a 3-year-old do not go well together.
Family pros and cons at a glance
- Very safe, low crime, and you can walk anywhere at night / The hutong alleys are narrow, busy and stressful with a toddler
- The Forbidden City is so spacious that kids can run around / Air quality is bad from November through February
- Cheap enough that a family week here costs less than a few days in Tokyo / Almost no English outside the big hotels
- Forbidden CityCity, pandas, and a Universal Studios park are all great kid days / The city is massive, so you will lose soem time to travel
- Metro is clean, cheap and signed in English / Public toilets in the hutongs are open holes with no doors…
What Nearly Made Me Skip It
The thing I worried about before we booked was the air. From November through February you get days in Beijing where a layer of smog just comes over the city, and you cannot see the buildings across the street. As an adult, I always shrugged at it. Thinking about small lungs, I dreaded it a bit to go there.
We went in October and it was fine. And since we lived there in 2019, the air quality improved a lot. October and the spring months are the best in my opinion. I always download IQAir and check it in the morning, and on a bad day you just do indoor things, so a museum or the malls.
⚡ Check IQAir the night before, not the morning of. That gives you time to swap an outdoor day for an indoor one before anyone is disappointed.
The thing I did not worry about enough was the hutongs. Those narrow alleys are exactly what I love about Beijing, and they were our neighborhood for a year. With a 3-year-old, they were sometimes a real struggle. The alleys are busy, delivery scooters come from behind you without a sound, the ground is uneven, and there is nowhere to step aside.
We managed, of course. But I spent a lot of that walk carrying him, looking at the street I used to live on, and that is a bit of a shame. A 5- or 6-year-old who walks properly next to you would have had a completely different day there, and so would I.
The toilets are the other hutong thing. A lot of the public ones are open holes in the ground, and people sit next to each other without any doors between them (…!). For a kid who needs to go RIGHT NOW, that is a problem, and I am not going to pretend otherwise. Plan around the malls at Wangfujing and Xidan, and around hotel lobbies (you can just go in and use the bathroom; that’s totally fine). It sounds small, but with kids it can really help.
6 Reasons Beijing Is Fine with Kids
Now the good part:
1. the Forbidden City Is Made for This
This was the biggest surprise of our trip. The Forbidden City is so spacious that it is one of the easiest famous attractions I have ever done with a kid. You pass through gate after gate, and every time you think you reached the center, another huge courtyard opens up!
No cars, no rope lines to squeeze a stroller past, and nowhere for a 3-year-old to get lost in a crowd. He could walk ahead and run around while we looked at the actual thing. Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven are the same in that way. If you have ever tried to do a European city sight with a small kid, you already know how rare that is.
Plan at least half a day for the Forbidden City. Book several days ahead on the official ticket site, because tickets are limited per day and they do sell out. Everyone needs a passport, kids included.
The line can be a bit crowded, but once you’re in, there is lots of space.
2. It Is Extremely Safe
Beijing is one of the safest big cities I have ever lived in. Crime against tourists is very rare, and my wife would walk home alone at night from the subway during the 2 years we lived there. I never worried about it once, in a city of over 20 million people. As a parent, that removes a whole category of stress.
The one real hazard is the scooters. They are silent, they come from all sides, and they do not always stop! This is what to watch, not people.
3. the Great Wall
At Mutianyu, you can ride a chairlift up and then slide back down on a toboggan. That is the bit kids remember, and I do not think the history part even competes!
Mutianyu is also the quieter section. Badaling is closer and more famous, so it gets very busy on weekends and Chinese holidays. We once stayed a whole weekend at Badaling in an Airbnb so we could walk the wall early before the crowds, and waking up next to the Great Wall is something I will not forget! With kids though, I would take Mutianyu for the toboggan alone (and yes, I went down it too).
4. Pandas, and They Are Easy to Reach
Beijing Zoo has some cute pandas, and it is a full day to go there. It is on metro line 4, so getting there is simple. I would mainly go for the panda house and not try to do the whole zoo; that way, you avoid tired legs later.
5. Universal Studios Beijing Exists (and It Is Cheap)
You do not think of Beijing and then think Universal Studios, but there is a huge theme park down in the southeast of the city. It opened right after we moved away. Of course it did…
We went back to check it out anyway, and it is really good. Tickets are quite affordable compared to other Universal parks. We did the one in Osaka, Japan too, and that costs almost double for basically the same thing. Plan a full day and go early!
⚡ Beijing is almost cashless. Connect your credit card to Alipay before you fly, because park food, taxis and street snacks all use Alipay or WeChat Pay.
6. Houhai Lake
Houhai is a lake surrounded by bars, restaurants and hutongs, and you can rent paddle boats in summer. In winter, the lake freezes over, and locals skate on it, which is a fun thing for a kid to see even if you stay off the ice!
We used to just walk around Houhai when we lived there. In a city that is pretty intense, this is one of the easiest ways to have a relaxed afternoon.
5 Things That Are Harder with Kids
None of these stopped us, but I would want to know them before booking.
The distances. Beijing is huge. Forbidden City to Sanlitun is about 30 minutes by metro, and both of those are central areas. Hutong area to the 798 Art District is around 25 minutes by taxi. Plan your days by area or you will spend a big part of the trip in the subway. Doing the Forbidden City and the Great Wall on one day is not a good idea…
Strollers and hutongs. Uneven ground, random steps, parked scooters everywhere. If your kid still needs wheels, I would bring a carrier for the hutong days and leave the stroller at the hotel.
Food gets tricky. The food in Beijing is incredible and very cheap, but it is not familiar at all… Finding coffee and a sandwich, or even just normal bread, is way harder than you think. Luckily our son loved Dumplings (jiaozi). They are soft and have familiar flavors like just vegetables with corn or beef, plus they are everywhere!
Almost nobody speaks English. Outside the big hotels (and even in those often) and main tourist spots, it is all Chinese, including menus and signs. WeChat can scan and translate a menu, and Pleco works offline. The metro announcements are in English too, which helps a lot.
Everything needs booking in advance. The Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven both need online tickets linked to your passport, and they sell out. Book several days ahead.
⚡ Have your hotel address saved in Chinese characters on your phone. You need it for every taxi, and it's really important!
Frequently Asked Questions
Where should we stay in Beijing with kids? Dongcheng, around Wangfujing. Wide sidewalks, close to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen, and the most international hotels with real family rooms. You can walk to the Forbidden City in 10 to 15 minutes from most hotels there. The hutong courtyard hotels are a beautiful experience, but rooms are small, the heating in winter is a real issue, and the alleys outside are the tricky part with a toddler.
Is Beijing safe for kids? Very. Crime is extremely low and I never felt unsafe in 2 years of living there. The real hazards are traffic and scooters, not people.
What is the best time to go with kids? We went in October and it was a great month, so nice temperatures and the air was fine. Spring (April to May) and autumn (September to November) are both good. Winter drops to around -15°C and the air is at its worst. Avoid Chinese New Year and Golden Week in the first week of October, because everything is packed and trains sell out.
How many days do we need? I would say 5. Three is enough for a couple but not for a family, because you move slower and the distances eat your time. Five gives you the classics plus a full Great Wall day.
Can we drink the tap water? No. Use bottled water. Hotels have hot water dispensers, which is normal in China, so bring a bottle you can fill and let cool. Beijing is also very dry, so pack moisturizer for little faces.
Do we need a VPN? Yes, and get it before you arrive. I used Astrill for years. An Airalo eSIM also works without a separate VPN, which is what I would do now.
My Verdict
Yes, go. But if you can, wait until your kid is 5 or 6.
Beijing is the city that made the most impact on me out of everywhere I have lived. So walking our son down the hutong street we used to live on is one of my favorite memories from the last few years, and the Forbidden City was better with him than I expected!
It is not a relaxed holiday; it’s a real city trip. But your kid comes home having seen a way of living that looks nothing like theirs, and that stays with them. So much more than a week at a pool.
Go somewhere most people do not go, and let them see it for themselves!
