I would not hesitate for a moment to go to China independently again. We just got back from a 10 day trip there with my 3 children (ages 9,9 and 13). I will topline the trip, and if anyone has any more specific questions, I will answer. I booked my hotels through Expedia and Precision Reservations. The Shanghai, Xi'an and Beijing airports are modern, efficient, clean and very user friendly. We had no problem catching taxis and/or a bus to the city centers.
We took the overnight train from Xi'an to Beijing which was also an extremely easy, pleasant experience. (Tickets purchased through www.chinatripadvisor.com)

We started in Shanghai. No problem exchanging some USD for yuan right in the baggage claim area. We stayed at the Astor House Hotel, it was okay. Had a great dinner at M on the Bund, spectacular views but awful service.
Booked tickets to an acrobatic show, we all enjoyed that thoroughly. Visited the Jade Buddha temple, Yuyuan Gardens,People's Square, strolled down Nanjing DongLu and the Bund. Visted the Xintiandi area for a Sunday brunch and proceeded to the Dontai Road street markets. As an interesting side trip, across one of the main roads at the end of the market is a another market with flowers, pet crickets, turtles, birds and other unidentifable worms, etc.
In an attempt to not overload the kids too soon on temples and other more culturally significant sights, we also visited the Shanghai aquarium and Madame Toussad's wax museum. We ate dinner one night on the Pudong side, but the skyline is really more beautiful from the Puxi side.
We had a very early flight from Shanghai to Xi'an. We had no problems with Air China, I obtained the tickets online from www.wacts.com and they had been delivered to our hotel in Shanghai.
From the Xi'an airport we took a bus to the city center and had to walk about a block to the Bell Tower Hotel. In my opinion, the city was a bit seedy, but the architecture and history is wonderful. The city walls and gates are well preserved, we had a great visit to the Big Goose pagoda and just hired our own guide there for 30 yuan. The second day we booked the daylong trip to the Warriors and Banpo village through Golden Bridge travel. Their office, as well as several other tour operators, are located on the second floor of the Bell Tower Hotel. We had a great day, but it was at the end of this day that I was so grateful we were not on a group trip for the entire time; although we met some very nice people and even ran into a few of them in Beijing!
Upon arrival in Beijing there was a very orderly taxi line, so we took one to our hotel.
We stayed at the Jiangou Hotel, where I would certainly stay again. The concierge was helpful (actually they were at all of the hotels) and the location was dangerously close to the Silk Market! Bought pearls at the Pearl Market (Hong Qiao)next to the Temple of Heaven. The better quality pearls are on the higher floors and in the basement of this building is another food market with all sorts of interesting things like eels, sea cucumbers and other mystery items. Saw all the major sights of Beijing except the Summer Palace and a viewing of Chairman Mao. Used a van and driver booked with assistance from our hotel for the Mutianyu section of the Wall. We had 4 full days in Beijing, but 5-6 would be ideal. Only once did we have a problem with an ATM asking for 6 digits. But you WILL go through a lot of cash; credit cards are still not accepted everywhere. Have a great trip!

Thanks for the report. I'm thinking of planning a similar trip myself.

Can you tell more about the overnight train from Xian to Beijing?

Tourista:

A round of applause for a wonderful China trip done independently with kids in tow. Hope you are planning more!

We took the Z20. It left Xi'an precisely on time and arrived on time also. The train station in Xi'an was the only place we found departure information not posted in English, however, we just showed our tickets to the official personnel and they pointed us in the right direction. I know I paid extra using ChinaTripAdvisor, but we were on a tight schedule. Another couple we met tried to get tickets for our train the day they arrived in Xi'an and couldn't because the train was sold out.
We booked one 4 berth soft sleeper and a 2 berth deluxe soft sleeper for the 5 of us. The only difference was that the Deluxe had it's own w/c and a small chair on one side of the compartment. The beds were equally as hard (even for being "soft&quot, they both have TV's, a small table and coffee/tea offered in the morning. I felt very safe, even with my husband and I in different compartments so that the children were not alone. We took our own food and water on board so I really can't comment on any "dining" available. Hope that provides you with all the information you need.

tourista,
Can you tell us how you obtain the Chinese visa? How far in advance did you apply?
Thanks.

I am probably not the person to give you the best answer to that question. We are expats in Moscow, Russia and just took our passports to the Chinese embassy directly. It took a week, which I believe is standard for a US citizen. You do not need an invitation for travel, however, even though there is a line for it on the visa application.

Thanks, tourista. I should ask around.

Nancy161: Check out the thread about how to get a Chinese visa.