And now my eldest is 5

I was debating whether or not to have a birthday party for C in Shanghai. Here were my 3 main concerns.

1. Who were we going to invite?
2. Where do you even have a party?
3. Where do you buy party supplies? It’s not like they have a Party City, a Michaels or a party section at the grocery stores.

So I started off with my quest to find a location. First place I looked at was an Angry Birds playground. I about freaked when I saw the prices. They wanted 300 RMB PER kid (around 50 USD) with a minimum of 8 kids. If you wanted to feed the kids, you’d have to rent the party room for an additional 360 RMB (60 USD). First off, 50 bucks per kid is freaking pricey. Disney World cost 95 bucks per person and this place was only a 2000 sq ft space with a tube type play area, a ball pit and some foam blocks. So needless to say, this place was out. I stopped looking for a month. Then we were invited to a birthday party at Wells Jumping. So I checked the place out before the birthday party just to see if it was feasible. 150 RMB per kid (about 25 USD) with a minimum of 15 kids. BUT there was no fee for using the party room AND they would give you an additional 50 RMB per kid for food at the food court. Ummm, yes! Sign me up! This place had THREE huge trampolines (C’s favorite), a ball pit, a playground and very clean bathrooms. I booked his birthday right then and there. Only a 200 RMB deposit. And I snooped and saw we were the only party so far on that date.

Next topic was the theme. I started looking for party supplies at the stores and online. C wanted a Star Wars party. Looked on Taobao and they wanted 150 RMB for 12 Star Wars paper plates. 25 bucks for 12 disposable paper plates!!! Holy crap. I was thinking I was going to have to buy white plates and color darth vader on it or add stickers. I knew we were going back to the states so I started buying plates on Amazon like they were going out of style. I basically bought everything online from Amazon and Target for the party while I was in China and shipped them to his parent’s house. From tablecloths to party favor bags. I don’t care if it took up one whole suitcase. There was no way I was going to buy Star Wars paper plates in China.  And this was the outcome.

Now it was time for the invitation. I had to pass out the invitation before we left for the US so I had to take care of that here. Easy peasy. I bought the invitation online from Etsy and printed them out at a printing store here. If you went to an expat printing store, they would charge 15 RMB per print. Our driver helped me out and got them printed out for 3 RMB per print. Score!!! And remember how I didn’t think we would have enough friends? Wrong. I wasn’t able to invite everyone because the room was small and didn’t want it to feel too crowded. So I wanted it capped off around 18 kids. We sent out 24 invites…

Another thing I forgot about was the cake.  I ALWAYS got my cake at Publix.  It tastes so good and is relatively cheap.  I REALLY thought about making it.  I was about 90% on the fence about making them, then I made the cupcakes for C’s school.  I only made 27 and that took FOR-EVER so I immediately switched my thinking to buy buy buy the cake.  Same friend that got me onto Wells Jumping helped me order the cake.  And best of all, they delivered.  For a mere 20 RMB (3.25 USD).  Thanks for the beautiful cake Bastiaan Bakery and thanks for the tip L!

The deadline to RSVP was 1/10.  On 1/10, we had 15 RSVPs.  On 1/15 (day before the party) we had 20 RSVPs.  On 1/16, 21 kids showed up!  We never heard from 6 of the invites.  So there you go – don’t expect the Chinese to RSVP because they probably can’t read an English invitation.  Another friend told me their ayi threw theirs away because they thought it was a commercial type advertisement.

For all I know, the kids had a BLAST!!!  The party was 3 hours long.  First hour was spent jumping. Next hour was eating.  All the kids were starving because you could hear a pin drop in the room with 21 kids during lunch.  It was amazingly quiet.  Then more jumping and then cake time, then more jumping.  Still surprised no one threw up after eating then jumping.  As for food, we totally brought America to Shanghai with the food.  I ordered chicken nuggets, pizza and french fries for the kids.  As for the adults, it was ham and cheese sandwiches, egg sandwiches, veggie straws, fruits and vegetables.  The only Chinese dish we had was from the food court and it was a pseudo General Tso’s chicken.  The highlight of the food IMO were my Star Wars chocolate pieces!  Free range of chocolate for kids = best party ever.  Ha!

Big difference between a US party and a Chinese party is that everyone tells you what they got as a gift as they hand the present to you. That is, if it’s wrapped. No problem on my side. Now I know what to expect for X’s party in a few months!