kids in china

[meeganmccaffrey]

Hi
I am planning to live Shanghai or Xiamen in the summer of 2016. I have two children, ages 8 and 6, who speak Mandarin well. I would like to find them opportunities to play and speak with other Chinese children. What do kids in China do in the summer? Are there camps or activities I could enroll my children in? Are there places I could live where I would be more likely to meet other families with similar aged children? I will not be working so I have time to spend with them, but I think they will get a lot more out of our visit if they can play and interact with other children. I would also like them to practice their Chinese. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[eion_padraig]

Well, with the older kids they study to gain a leg up academically or practice their musical instrument. Not much time for fun as they get into middle school.

But little kids do get a chance to play. Honestly, I usually see kids playing with each other around my apartment complex whose shouts echo up to my apartment (How do you say, "Get off my lawn" in Chinese?). I get the sense this happens pretty informally. Public parks are another place where you kids playing with each other. I actually think China is a great place for young kids in that people love kids. If you're in Shanghai though, it get's pretty darn hot during the summer and the pollution can be rough so play time outside may be a challenge for other reasons. I've never been to Xiamen, so I don't know about that so well.

 

I definitely see advertisements for kid centered activities (learning creativity through playing Lego, learning to rollerblade, etc), but I don't know that Day Camps happen in the same way as the US or Canada.

Just as a side suggestion, I read a great book on raising kids bilingually, called "Be Bilingual" by Annika Bourgogne that you might be interested in checking out because it sounds like this is a goal you have for your kids.

[gato]

Take a look at ActiveKidz, an expat-oriented community group in Shanghai that organizes sports activities for kids.

http://www.activekidz.org/

[tooironic]

I've been living in Xiamen since September last year. The big plus about the city is the lack of air pollution and lots of blue skies. Also, the people here are really nice and welcoming to outsiders - there's a real laidback atmosphere. Plus, for a city of only 3.5 million people (that's small for China), it has all the range of shops, restaurants, facilities, etc. you could want, not to mention an interesting modern and ancient history.

 

I'm living near the main Xiamen Uni campus and there are a couple of primary schools and other educational institutes scattered around the place. There are a lot of children here, so I can tell you that your kids would have no problem finding local kids to play and practice their Mandarin with. And as others have pointed out, people in China love kids, so it could be a great atmosphere for them too.

[jbradfor]

 

people in China love kids

Of course they love kids -- show me a culture that doesn't!  You think people in other countries feed their kids to the wolves?  [Although I admit to being tempted at times....]  It's a stupid statement.

 

All that "people in XXX love kids" means is that they have no boundaries and will come up and touch and/or take pictures of my kid without asking or getting permission.

[tooironic]

I don't think all cultures in the world treat children the same. There's a reason there's the phrase "children should be seen and not heard" in English, and the phrase "尊老爱幼" ("respect the old and cherish the young") in Chinese. Many of the middle class in my home country treat children like nuisances. My point was that you'd be hard pressed to find someone like that in China.