If you traveled to Shanghai prior to 2001 you may have felt like a local celebrity. Like a regional television news anchor, people would spot you in a crowd, some would feel inclined to strike up a conversation with you, and despite what you might tell them to the contrary, everybody assumed you had money, which comparatively speaking, was true.
These days the sight of a foreigner in Shanghai is nothing new, but if you get out of town to a smaller city, you could still be a bit of a spectacle. Not in bad ways or even in ways that have annoyed me, but you will be noticed. Even though there are hundreds of thousands of foreigners visiting China at any time, they are mostly teachers and business people. What’s still rare to them, and by rare I mean exceedingly rare, is the sight of white children.
If you travel to China with small children, they will be an instant smash hit. Even in the big cities, the common man on the street has almost certainly never seen a white baby in real life. People want to see your child, make funny faces at him and try to get a response.
These people aren’t scammers, quite the opposite; they are curious and genuinely interested. When we traveled to tourist hotspots, even the otherwise ravenous merchants would often give us free toys and trinkets, just to entice us over to see the baby.
Twice, when standing at a crosswalk in busy Shanghai, my son caused bicycle accidents when commuters took their eye off the road to take a look at the baby in passing. Nothing serious, but we felt bad about it. They’d never seen anything like him; it was like a rare glimpse at an albino baby tiger, except to them it was more like an albino baby.
Traveling anywhere with children may seem inconvenient, and believe me when I tell you, it is; but not any more so than anywhere else, and it can be a really wonderful experience for you and your children to share and cherish forever. Just know that your baby will overshadow your own celebrity status.
Oh, and if you’re traveling with more than one child, expect some surprise and confusion, as you know that second children in China is as rare to them as your fair, fine haired baby with the bright eyes.
