Shanghai Disneyland in uproar after refusing child ticket to 10-year-old
By Shan Xin
People's Daily app
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Chinese social media lit up after a dad sued Shanghai Disneyland over height restrictions on child tickets, which begs the question: should the child ticket be issued to a real child or only to a person under 1.4 meters tall?

Liu Demin, a judge who hails from the southern province of Guangdong, is suing Shanghai International Theme Park Company Limited, a co-owner of Shanghai Disney Resort, after the park refused a child pass to his 10-year-old kid, whose is over 1.4 meters.

Liu is not the only sufferer of the rule, which requires kids to be between 100 and 140 centimeters to qualify for a discounted children’s pass. Many other complaints about this “unreasonable” loophole can also be seen on Ctrip, China’s most popular online ticketing platform, Liu said, noting Disney consistently responded by suggesting adult tickets priced at 399 yuan ($61.4) for kids over 1.4 meters tall, who are supposed to get a 100-yuan($15.4) child discount.

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The benchmark, according to Liu, should be changed. “The standard for Shanghai Disney is obviously not treating Chinese children on a par with other places,” Liu said, claiming its branches in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Paris dispense child tickets by age instead of height, and kids under 11 are eligible for discounted entry.

Such debates have also occurred over train tickets. China’s Ministry of Railways has increased the height eligibility for child tickets from 1.4 meters to 1.5 meters and a proposal to raise it to 1.6 was mooted in 2017. 

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Chinese children keep getting taller because of nourishment driven by accelerating economic growth in the country. According to the latest height and weight standardized growth charts for Chinese children, a 11-year-old boy is expected to be as tall as 132.1 to 152.1 centimeters and a girl between 133.4 to 153.3 centimeters.

The case will reportedly be heard by the Chuansha court of Pudong New Area People’s Court of Shanghai in the near future.