HELP: Shenzhen - little vacation and zoo

[brainleacher]

I was wondering if anybody could please give me some pointers in regards on how to get to shenzhen (e.g. i think we would prefer a coach somewhere from HK island, since we have 2 small kids). a family friendly hotel recommendation and any infos on the wild park zoo and other activities for kids. we are not looking to go shopping but rather have a week or so a relaxing time in a resort/hotel with several day trips and an easy way to get there and back of course from hk island.

please help, as we have never been there before. thanks!

 

[hkaussie]

Shenzhen can be fun, but it can also be very baffling! Splendid China is not a bad place to visit, and I'm sure the children would like it.

The zoo has a reputation for fairly awful and distressing treatment of animals so you might want to check up on that. I haven't been there though, so I can't speak from first hand experience.

 

[rani]

Sheraton Dameisha Resort in Shenzhen is supposed to be really nice. Its only 30 mins from Lowu station.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/shera...pertyID=1968&EM=VTY_SI_dameisha_1968_overview

There are coaches from Wanchai Ferry Pier to Shenzhen. Not sure where they drop off and how far the resort is.

 

[HKfornow]

Sheraton Dameisha is not quite in the heart of Shenzhen, but it's a pretty nice resort with a waterslide that your kids might enjoy (depending on age). The Chinese food is reasonable in the hotel, you are within walking distance to a KFC & McDonalds (on emergency days that the kids insist on fries), and of course the hotel is right by beach and has indoor & outdoor pool. You could go to the Shenzhen Ocean Park, which is probably a 10 minutes ride or so by taxi from the hotel, and the OCT is in that area as well. http://www.interlakenocthotel.com/old/interlaken/front/en/index.php you may consider staying there as well, or visiting (we haven't been there yet so no personal experience).

The zoo is decent, and have mini-shows to showcase the animals, but of course are in Chinese, I don't recall if there's an English translation. Our LO was exhausted by the time the finale show and slept right thru it (abt. 3 or 4 pm).

Windows of the World & Splendid China could be options as well, though honestly I wasn't impressed with Splendid China, the miniatures were just too laughable, looked like lumps of clay, but it was something to do, the shows were decent.

There is also another waterpark/hotel that heavily advertises around the Lowu area, but unfortunately I can't recall the name.

Hope this helps.