Yes, Le Royal Meridien is certainly a good choice. Radisson New World, JW Marriott, Central Hotel and Howard Johnson Plaza would also be good choices.

Chengdu: Definitely the Chengdu Panda Reserve.

Shanghai: Try the aquarium in Pudong.

Ellyse, Thanks a lot. I am sure our 4-year old would love to see the panda and go to the aquarium. I will do some comparison shopping among the hotels you recommended. Will report back to the forum when I am back.

I would also advise you to have a look at travelforkids.com/Funtodo/China/shanghai.htm for more suggestions of kid-friendly stuff in Shanghai.

Feel free to PM/email me if you need any other help, I'm studying in Shanghai and have travelled extensively throughout mainland China.

The Shanghai aquarium is an excellent recommendation Ellyse. I think the four-year old will have a wonderful time. The Bund, to me, is not much, as I have lived and vacationed on urban waterfronts my entire life. Yes, it is nice to walk and watch. But I would not put it on my top 20 things not to miss in China. I would think Yu Yuan Gardens, with plenty of things to climb and smaller scale things, would be nice too.

An out of the way place with a great garden and wonderful old buildings is the Confucius Temple in Shanghai.

All the kids are around the ground fountain in Renmin Square. Dress yours to get wet, as water jets shoot from the ground, up to 10 and 20 feet. The kids have a ball. Even I like to watch them. ;-)

This is great. The website posted by Ellyse is great too. Now I have a lot of ideas for travelling with a 4-year-old in China. (We will be in Beijing for 4-5 days also and have decided to stay in the North Garden hotel with friends. This website will help us to plan our stay there.) I am more and more convinced it is better for us to stay closer to People's square. I appreciate all the help given in this forum!