It's not so much about fear, as it is about acknowledging risks and making informed decisions. That's usually the best a parent can do.

Internet search engines, as well as schools anywhere, are platforms, vehicles if you will. You can choose to be informed about how they are programmed to behave and why, but that is beyond capabilities of most primary school children - and most parents as well.

For young kids the important matter is where those vehicles take them. Driving them is responsibility of parents and teachers.

@cloudtrapezer: "what, for example, English schools teach about the Irish or Bengal famines [...]"

Agreed, but the issue with raising a child is not so much the absolute information that education provides to the the child, than how much it differs from information that their parents have or would provide if they had control over it.

"we have Google and schoolkids can find these things out for themselves - even in China with a little bit of technical wizardry"

That's actually not granted. Under some jurisdictions in China, people have been punished for just using such wizardry, while nationwide it is now only illegal to provide such services to general public.

And letting your children Google their information completely on their own is not what I'd call a preferred option anywhere.

Especially if the child gets their core education in Chinese system, where I believe education on critical thinking is quite limited.

@Ishmael: "'losing the child' due to Chinese education [...] might it not happen to one member of an international couple whose child was brought up entirely within the other parent's national education system?"

That depends on what is educated.

For example, between US and any western European country, differences are so small that it would never happen.

But going to China, or even some eastern European countries, different views or outright revisionism of history, as well as present events, gain momentum.

Think of anti-vaxing movement in many western countries, and extrapolate that to other aspects of society.

No experience finding accommodation, but my wife's family home is up in remote mountains in Changning county and we regularly make that trip (not on bike though).

I'd say that every township worthy of a police station, junior high school and hospital should have some kind of hotel.

They will be ignorant of requirements of registering foreigners (and so will the local police), because you should register at the county seat which can be several hours car drive away.

Between townships in rural roads, you can only ask around from houses or people you pass by.

Roads that may appear paved as they leave a town may turn into broken dirt roads later on, and especially when you cross county borders. A neighbouring county may not have priorized road improvements same way.

Rock slides and road collapses are not uncommon, and detours (even short ones) may take you to muddy soil.

Until some 6 years ago, going to my wife's home village required motorcycle or walking for the last 5km or so up the mountain, because hired cars would not drive the road.

It was since then renovated, and is better than the old Kunming-Dali road for example. That was one bumpy ride few years ago, when our driver tried to avoid congested highway.

@cloudtrapezer: "Not sure what kids here are indoctrinated in these days apart from China is wonderful and getting even better."

I think that pretty much sums it up. Everything is perfect, and only getting better. Had it not been for foreign influences, everything would have always been perfect in past too. No dictators here, only chairmans.