Several people expressed an interest in my thoughts about this, after we traveled in June/July with our two kids (ages 7 and 11). So here goes. I'm sure these ideas don't make sense for everyone, so pick and choose as you like...

- Go to Beijing early. We left on a Tuesday, rather than a Thursday. So we landed on Wednesday, then had 3 full days in Beijing before leaving for our province. This extra time to get over jetlag made a HUGE difference to us, plus we got to see more of Beijing. When we met our baby in Nanchang, we were pretty well rested, which helped us take care of a new baby. I actually would suggest this schedule to everyone, even if you aren't taking children, as long as you have the extra time. I mean, how often do you go to China? You might as well stay for a while.

- Get two adjoining rooms. If the new baby is crying a lot, most of the family can still get a good night's sleep in the other room. The two rooms help even when the baby is sleeping well. We could watch TV or play a board game during nap time. The two bathrooms and the extra space help when you have to get 5 people ready each morning. And the older kids loved having their own room. (Of course, this option is more expensive, but it helped us a lot.)

- Focus on family time, and what makes your kids happy, instead of group activities. We traveled "alone" without a travel group, so this colors my judgment here, but I think it still applies. We had wonderful sightseeing trips with our guide and fantastic family experiences in China. But this would have been much harder if we were locked into a group schedule. For example, kids can manage one big activity per day. If we had tried to fit in two sightseeing trips, or sightseeing plus a plane trip, in a single day, we would have had some very unhappy kids. Getting packed and down to a group breakfast by 8 AM is another example -- very tough for an 11 year old boy who is not a morning person. So I suggest going at your own pace as much as possible.

Chuck Connell