Going to Beijing with child in August!!

My husband and I are planning to take my 14 month old baby to Beijing in August for 5 days. I know it will be sweltering hot but I have no other choice. This will also be the first time I'm taking her on an airplane. I'm quite worried on all aspects...Plus I'm prego with #2... Could someone please give me some advice for this trip?


1)I have reserved bulkhead and an extra seat but do I need a bassenette? Is she too old?


2) Do I need to bring a crate of jarred baby food and formula? Do I need to bring my own bottled water? We're staying at a service apartment so I assume there's a stove. I usually puree homemade but I'm worried I won't be able to find produce or clean fresh meat nearby and don't want to waste a day looking for pots and pans.


3) How will I be able to steralize the bottles?


4) Any suggestions for indoor activities? I know it may be too hot to visit any outdoor venues.


5) We may bring our helper. I'm sure she'll be helpful but haven't looked into the visa procedure yet. Any ideas on that?


6) Any other ideas or suggestion will be greatly appreciated. I'd love to hear of anything I didn't mention but you think is important.


Thanks in advance for your help. Please bear with me if some of the questions seem silly. I've never been to Beijing before and am rather nervous.

3. Steralise bottles:


See if the serviced apartment can give you a microwave, and you can use the microwave steraliser bags. They are great for travelling.

If not, you can boil on the stove. Serviced apartments usually come with pots and pans, but check in advance.

You can also ask in advance for a cot, etc...

infact we have just returned from Beijing... my daughter is 8 months.. we carried bottled food & formula... they did give us baby food (bottled) on the flight.. & offered warm water for the milk but we had carried our own flask...


for sterlizing we had carried our sterlizer ..


i think the weight limit for bassinet is 11kgs..


hope this helps..

When I took my helper to China the travel agent told us there is no DH visa available for the PRC, so she should just travel as a tourist. So that's what we did.


You can buy bottled water there, but as for jars and formula, it depends on whether your child is willing to try different brands.

Most guidelines say you no longer need to sterilise at 14 months. Not sure whether this is true, but maybe in Beijing, this is a good idea....

I travel with my 7 month old and the following:

Bottles ( you can swill out with boiling water or steam them in a pan for sterlisation at this age).

Baby food jars - test these out before you go to get baby used to the taste if they are purely on home cooked. I also have a Babycook machine that is small enough to take as handluggage and very light. It does the whole job for you. I prefer to do this if a kitchen is avail. because I'm a total food snob. ( lighter than carrying 5 days of jars anyway)

Take some basic food- sounds stupid I know. Try a potato, a yam etc etc. if they will let you through. this will give you enough fresh food for a couple of days. Your apartment manager will tell you where the supermarket is for after that.

Bassinette - your baby is too big I assume. Some airlines let you take your own car seat, but not sure which as they can be difficult to secure on the pull down. If not, you have to keep the baby on your knee. You have to use the airline baby seatbelts anyway at take off and landing. We have been refuse to use our Baby Bjorn for airline travel, even though we argued it was safer than the belt they supply. Its only 4 hours, you'll be fine.

Beijing is easier than you are expecting. There are lots of expats there, you will find what you are looking for within reason. Watsons chemist is also there- nappies etc.

There is much more stroller space in Beijing- huge pavements to walk along, but WAY more pollution. If you go out, I would put some kind of mossie net/muslin on the stroller, just so your baby has some shield.

Have a great time!

Hi, I don't think you need to steralise things at that age - hot soapy water should do - or just take cold water sterilising tablets which are available in Mothercare or Bumps to babes in HK.


There should be pots and pans and stuff available in a serviced apartment and they have Park n Shop and other big supermarket chains in Beijing for you to buy food. Plus as someone else said, plenty of Watsons.


The temperature in August is perhaps similar to in HK but a little drier so shouldn't be a problem, assuming your child spends time outdoors in HK - so go see some of the fantastic sights Beijing has on offer.


Sorry, can't be more help on indoor stuff as I didn't have kids when I lived there.


Have fun - it's a fantastic city.

We live outside of Harbin (NE China) and last week spent 5 days in Beijing in a hotel with our son who is 7 months (husband had to go to Beijing for work so it was a sanity break for us).


These is no problem using bottled water in Beijing for bottles etc (have to do it up here). Supermarkets have the Heinz range of baby food and Park and Shop have the Gerber range.


For bottles, just to be on the same side we always using boiling water from the jug to rinse them after they have been thoroughly cleaned, reassemble the bottle (with nipple etc) and shake it so the nipple expands and remove the cap and "shoot" the boiling water through the nipple. Probably ruins the nipples, but better than having an upset child.


Was in Beijing last August when I was pregnant - it was during a hot and very humid period where the temp was up in the late 30's. Shopping malls are good (air con!), Wangfujing has no shade so is hot (was last week, 30 degrees), did the Summer Palace which was nice by the lake but no breeze and don't think would be much fun for a 14mth old. Sorry can't help with activities.

Thank you all so much for your replies. I'm always grateful everyone is so helpful on this forum. I guess my information is a little behind with how advanced Beijing is.


It's reassuring to know Beijing is so convenient. I will look into the suggestions.


Ruth, you are right, I do give her chunky food and some table food but I still puree most of her fruits (I'm not sure why...)


Many thanks again!

Hi momster


I've seen baby food in most of the supermarkets in Beijing.


If you want some comfort foods from home, you can go to "Jenny Lou's" supermarkets: theres several branches in Beijing. It sells mainly imported foods - bread, cheese, ham, jars, you'll find most of what you need to cook your favorites. I've seen a huge selection of baby food there.


Also and there are lots of indoor play areas for children in Beijing - a great one on Wangfujing Street - with a ball park, sandpit, painting and stuff - and its really cheap.

You'll have a great time in August - don't worry about the heat as there's air conditioning in most indoor places.