Tips for keeping your kids happy on your Beijing trip

Camp helped us out by giving us a break from unrelenting togetherness. Besides learning a little Chinese and taking part in traditional activities, our sons gained some self-confidence in their ability to negotiate this foreign city. We tried to foster that in other ways too. Among the possibilities:

BARGAINING

Bargaining is part of life here. Kids love to spend money. It’s a match made in heaven -- or at least in the enormous markets of Beijing. Sam and Galen had saved money for the trip, and they used some of their newly learned Mandarin to bargain for souvenirs. It turned out that Galen was top-notch at it, buying, for example, two T-shirts for a tenth of what the vendor first asked.

BUYING

At the Lama Temple, a gloriously beautiful site in the central city, many people buy incense and light it before various statues. In one of those cases of saying yes when you want to say no, we let the boys buy incense from one of the many vendors around the temple. The reward? Not once did they complain that visiting a temple was bo-o-o-ring.

MAKING DECISIONS

It was their trip too, and we let them make some of the decisions. Electric and paddle boats can be rented at Beihai Lake, which is not my idea of fun. I could not have been more wrong, however, and I was happy I gave in to their desire. We watched swimmers and kayakers and a group having a feast on their boat.

GIVING IN

I wanted to eat someplace new every night. The boys were adventurous, but when they liked something, they wanted it again and again. They especially liked a restaurant where we had a dessert that consisted of a mountain of ice covered in mango and condensed milk called bingsha. It was not such a hardship to give in to that.

Comments? Email travel-feedback@latimes.com