Beijing Aquarium: Revealing the Mysteries of the Sea
By admin on 2015-02-02

When entering Beijing Zoo (located in Haidian District) from the north gate, visitors will encounter a huge building resembling a blue whelk in an ocean of trees and flowers - the Beijing Aquarium. The aquarium uses the color of blue and orange to symbolize the mysteries of the sea and the vitality of its marine life. With an area of 12 hectares (29.7 acres), this aquarium is the largest inland one in the world and breeds more than 1,000 marine species and freshwater fish. It is divided into seven parts, namely, Rainforest Adventure, Touch Pool, Wonder of Coral Reefs, Shark Harbor, Rare Chinese Sturgeon Hall, Whales and Globefish Hall and Marine Theater.

The Rainforest Adventure, with its winding path, tumbling waterfall and architectural delights, creates for the visitor a feeling of being in the Amazon Forest. This area has twenty-two tanks housing 100 different types of freshwater fish collected from rainforest and inland rivers and includes examples of Blood parrot fish, sea elephants, giant salamanders, Monodactylus sebaes and anglerfishes.

After the rainforest, visitors will find themselves in the Touch Pool. Here visitors can touch and handle sea hedgehogs, sea anemones, starfish, soldier crabs and horseshoe crabs.

Next is the Wonder of Coral Reefs tunnel complex consisting of thirty-three tanks displaying ornamental fish representing sea areas from around the world. Fish on display include the Jewel cichlids from California, endangered nautiluses, sea purses and other amazing fish that swim effortlessly above visitors' heads as they make their way through the tunnel.

The Shark Wharf hall is unique among shark halls by showing the sharks in an open way and hosts interactive programs such as diving, feeding and dancing with the sharks.

As the name suggests, the Rare Chinese Sturgeon Hall is the home of sturgeons unique to China. This hall encapsulates the living environment of the Chinese sturgeons from the Yangtze River through exhibits that demonstrate both real underwater feeding scenes and pictures.

In the Whales and Globefish Hall, dolphins, killer whales and sea lions live happily with each other. Visitors can see them clearly through the two windows in the wall.

The Marine Theater, with over 3,000 seats, is the marine animal performance area. Trained sea lions imitate the clumsy seals and dance with the trainers. Skillful dolphins perform water ballet routines, jump high out of the water to reach the ball floating in the air or paint abstract drawings. The most exciting performance is when two dolphins lift the trainer to a great height with their mouths as if launching a rocket. These programs are performed at 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM, Monday to Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, they are held at 11:00 AM, 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM.

To get there, you can take a bus to Beijing Zoo and follow the signs to Beijing Aquarium. Admission fee to the zoo is CNY 15 from April 1 to October 31 and CNY 10 from November 1 to March 31.