shanghai- holiday suggestions with children

S

sea princess

Registered User
Hi
I'm hoping some experienced mums out there might be able to guide me through the do's and don'ts in Shanghai! We are travelling there with our two girls for Easter - aged 6 and 18 months. Any recommendations on places to stay (currently looking at the Westin on Bund), things to do, safety of food/water/taxi's? Any information would be much appreciated. I've always been a little nervous about travelling to China with the children. Our smallest is very active and likes to be outdoors, hates to be confined indoors!

:thanks
 
Hi Seaprincess

We travelled to Shanghai when my daughter was 18 months. We stayed at the Westin on the Bund and it was great. It's in a good location and the rooms were large. We actually could fit the cot in the massive closet so it was like having her in another room!
The bath is really deep though so that was a bit tricky. We also stayed at the Sofitel at the end of the mall and that was fine too but the Westin is nicer.
We had no problems with the food, none of us got ill and we ate both local and western food. We drank bottled water. Taxis are ok, a bit crazy at times I would recommend some form of portable car seat if that is at all possible, we had the Freedom Rider.
If you are Western you will be followed by the locals so be prepared for this. As Shanghai is quite cosmopolitan I was surprised by the amount of photo taking and touching/following of my daughter. It never felt unsafe though and was quite funny at times.
Getting around with a stroller was no more difficult and probably easier than HK. We actually travelled to various places while we were there and had no problems and the thought of going with a small child was more daunting than the reality.
If you travel out of Shanghai it can be hard to find nappies/diapers but no problems in Shanghai.
Have a great time.
 
great

Hi Flack
Thanks for the information, you've convinced me to book the Westin! I have just purchased the freedom rider, so that's great. Were there any issues with seat belts in taxi's? I heard not many taxi's have seat belts to be able to use the freedom rider?
Thanks again
 
I found that the taxis had seatbelts so there were no issues there although I am not sure if there was a middle belt but we always had belts on the sides in the backseat. If you don't speak mandarin carry the name of your hotel with you written in mandarin. We also caught buses and trains with no problems. We got a backpack with a leash for our 18 mth old so she was free to walk but couldn't wander off and it was very handy. There are quite a few parks around if they need to burn some energy and the waterfront promenade is not far from the hotel.
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