China with teenagers: how to plan a trip that a 14-year-old will actually remember
A guide for Australian families with teenagers, from the parent who has to sell the trip to the teenager who has to survive it: the things that genuinely land (the Wall, the trains, hotpot, the night markets, Disney, the skyline), the things to cut, phone and internet realities, giving them independence safely, food they will eat, the history that lands when told as stories, and a two-week route built around a teenager's energy curve.
A trip with teenagers is a different animal from one with small children: they can walk all day and will refuse to; they want independence and need a working phone; they will not be impressed by a garden and will be floored by a bullet train; and they remember the trip for life if two or three days of it were built for them. We run a lot of these for Melbourne families, and this is what we have learned.
What lands with teenagers
- The high-speed train. 350 km/h, a window seat, the phone showing the speed: every teenager we have taken has filmed it. The train guide has the details; book the Shanghai to Beijing day as an event, not a transfer.
- The Great Wall, walked properly: not the cable car and a photo but two hours along the ridge at Mutianyu, the toboggan down, and the knowledge that they did it. The Beijing itinerary says which section.
- The skyline, from the Bund at night and from a deck (the observation decks guide); the Shanghai Tower’s lift speed is a number they will quote.
- Food they chose: hotpot where they cook their own, the night markets, bubble tea, dumplings by the steamer, a cooking class (the experiences guide). The regional food guide has the hotpot method.
- Shanghai Disneyland, which works for teenagers because of Tron and the Pirates ride, as the Disneyland guide says; a day, not two.
- The Terracotta Warriors, which are the one historical sight that needs no selling; the Xi’an guide adds the city wall by bicycle, which teenagers love.
- The scale of it: the metro at rush hour, the mall with eight floors, the Taobao delivery riders, the tech. Shanghai is the future to a 15-year-old in a way that Paris is not.
- Independence: an afternoon in a mall or a lane district on their own with a phone and a meeting point.
What to cut
One garden, not four; one museum, chosen for them (the Shanghai Museum’s bronzes or the Terracotta pits, not the porcelain galleries); no more than one temple a day; no banquets that run three hours; and no 6 am starts two days running. Teenagers sleep late and run late; the day that starts at nine and ends at ten at the night market is the one that works. A water town is good for an afternoon, not a day, as the water towns guide says.
Phones and internet
The thing that will decide the mood. Each teenager needs an eSIM with a roaming data plan that keeps Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Google and the games working without a VPN, which the eSIM and VPN guide explains; set it up in Melbourne and test it. Give them Alipay on their own phone linked to a parent’s card with a limit, so they can buy bubble tea and ride the metro without asking; the payments guide has the steps for under-18s. A translation app and the hotel’s address card in Chinese on their phone, and the family on a WeChat group, and they can be let loose.
Independence, safely
China is one of the safest countries in the world for a teenager to walk around in, as the safety guide sets out: no street crime to speak of, cameras everywhere, a metro that is clean and simple, and shopkeepers who will help a lost foreign kid. Give 14-and-ups an afternoon in a defined area (a mall, Tianzifang, the Concession’s lanes, Nanjing Road) with a meeting time and a working phone; give 16-and-ups a half-day with the metro. The scams guide has the one thing to brief them on, the “tea ceremony” invitation from friendly students, which targets foreigners alone.
Food
Teenagers eat in China. Dumplings, noodles, fried rice, skewers, bubble tea, fried chicken, the egg tarts, hotpot, Peking duck in a pancake, the convenience-store snacks, the bakery buns: there is no fussy-eater problem that a noodle shop does not solve. The ones who want to be adventurous get the stinky tofu and the chicken feet and a story; the ones who do not get a KFC and a McDonald’s on every corner. The supermarkets guide covers the convenience-store economy they will live on.
History as stories
Teenagers absorb history as stories and reject it as dates. The First Emperor who buried an army to protect himself in the afterlife and died drinking mercury for immortality; the Empress Dowager who spent the navy’s budget on a marble boat; the Bund’s gangsters and opium; the last emperor who became a gardener. The history primer has the five names, and a guide who can tell them in a courtyard is worth more to a teenager than any museum.
A fortnight on a teenager’s energy curve
| Days | Where | Built for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shanghai | Arrive late, the Bund at night, dumplings |
| 2 | Shanghai | Late start, the old town, a cooking class, hotpot |
| 3 | Shanghai | Disneyland, or the deck and the lanes with free time |
| 4 | Suzhou | Half a day of gardens and canals, back for a night market |
| 5 | Train to Beijing | The train as the event; the hutongs at dusk; duck |
| 6 | Beijing | The Forbidden City early, Jingshan, free afternoon |
| 7 | Beijing | The Wall walked, the toboggan, a lazy evening |
| 8 | Beijing | Temple of Heaven, the 798 art district, skating or a show |
| 9 | Fly to Xi’an | The Muslim Quarter’s food street |
| 10 | Xi’an | The Warriors in the morning, the wall by bicycle in the afternoon |
| 11 to 13 | Chengdu, optional | Pandas, hotpot, the teahouses; the far destinations guide |
| 14 | Home |
One parent’s tip we pass on: give each teenager one day to plan. They will choose the mall, the arcade and the bubble tea; it is the day they talk about.
With us
On the tours the guide reads a teenager’s mood faster than a parent does and knows when to swap the garden for the arcade. Tell us ages and interests on the contact page; a gamer, a footballer and a photographer get three different Shanghais.
