One if us suggested that we try the subway and we reached one if the subway station. Having Parkinson Disease made me fear of large crowd and the size of the emerging crowd made us give up our idea of trying the subway.. The scooter performed extremely well except that the places we visited still not that disabled friendly yet.

Did you have any trouble boarding planes with the mobility scooter at any airline / airport in China? I have been told this week that China Eastern will not allow me to bring my mobility scooter on the trip from Guangzhou to Xi'an or on any of their flights due to their company's policy! I even suggested that I was willing to take the scooter without batteries as I know can purchase batteries easily anywhere in China, but they still said no way.

I had the same problem not only with the planes including China Eastern, but also with the high speed rails in China. It almost literally killed me to have to walk almost meters by foot. If it were not for the gallant efforts by my daughter who is about 30% of my weight, I would certainly not be alive today. I cannot believe how backward and mobility unfriendly China is. They had better make a few changes in their stubborn policies that make NO sense or lose out on a lot of tourism income in the next 20 years as the baby boomers become senior citizens in the US. As a Chinese person, it shames me to see this lack of progress in my own country!! Senior management probably are simply not aware of the policy or its reasons for its existence or the reasons why they are no longer imposed anywhere else that I know of in the world, and subordinates within the typical Chinese business structure are too timid to raise issues in Chinese companies in China, unlike those in the US.

You must have been in old train stations and taking old trains. Newer stations all have elevators to the platform and trains have space for wheelchairs. You also need to ask for assistance and i have seen signs to this effect in some stations that have special access for people with mobility issues (not requiring to go upstairs to the waiting area and down to the platform). In an older station Where they have no facility, I once saw staff carrying a passenger in his wheelchair by hand to get him on the train. I think that you need to ask and it may not always be so obvious,

Travellers in mobility scooters going to China be forewarned. I once flew into Shanghai Pudong Airport and upon arrival, it was smooth flow for me with my scooter. The headache starts when I am about to depart for home using the same airport. One the day of my departure, the airline has to refer my scooter to the authority and they kept questioning me on its capacity even though it was a lithium battery. The authority refused to give the go ahead for my scooter since i cannot provide them on the battery capacity details. Even with all the objection raised by my fellow passengers of my travelling group, questioning the authority and airline, why there was no objection to my bringing in the scooter upon arrival at the airport. I have informed my airline well in advance that I will be bringing in my scooter and I received no objection from the airline. If the airline has doubt, they would have informed the authority about my scooter issue but I am not sure if they must do it since coming back home, they have to refer my scooter to the authority. The airline that we fly with is very important since my airline supported my argument with the authority to the extend of having two senior staffs coming into the airport with company's stamps and their signatures to undertake responsibility for bringing my scooter safely out of China. The airlines staffs constance reminder to the authority not to inconvenient its passengers also show its commitment of ensuring my scooter safely back home and also my well being. Thank you Singapore Airline.

I am looking to take my aunty who has mobility scooter to Beijing and Shanghai,but it appears too difficult! What about Taiwan and Hong Kong, are these places mobility friendly?

Ask in the forum of these countries.

I am planning on taking either a compliant lithium-ion battery (under 300Wh) or my large heavy duty scooter. I was told I could not see the terra cotta warriors or the great wall. Is this really true?

I am flying into Hong Kong on December 12th on a Unitedc airlines flight and connecting to an Air Canada flight that same day. I have a mobility scooter with a lithium Ion battery (it is a 24V, 11.25Ah Li-Ion with a charger. I believe the battery is about 264 watts and I have been told that I should buy an $800 battery from Travelscoot (it would be about 160 watts) and it would be allowed to be brought on a plane by the Chinese authorities. I really don't want to spend the $800 because I don't need a new battery and it won't power my scooter as well as the larger battery. I will buy it if I have to because I don't want to have my scooter confiscated by the Chinese authorities.

I have taken my scooter on numerous airlines the past few years with no problems. They bring it down to the hold with the wheelchairs and strollers. It only weighs about 15 kg and they take it at the door of the plane and carry it down the stairs to the hold. Wonder if anyone has had problems recently with the Lithium battery in China airports? Any info appreciated.