Beijing Zoo
Accessibity: 
Natural Scenery:
Culture & history:
Edition HistoryEdit Introduction:
View 3 photos, or upload your photo.
Beijing Zoo was called Wan Sheng Garden during the Qing Dynasty (literally it means the Garden of 10, 000 animals). After the Qing Dynasty was replaced by the Republic of China in 1912, this royal garden became an experimental station for farming and animal husbandry. It was not until 6 years after the founding of the P. R. China in 1955 that this garden was officially opened to visitors as the city zoo of Beijing. It is now the largest zoo in China witha greater number of animal species that any other. Animals live in different halls or zones of the huge zoo as follows:
The Beijing Ocean Hall measures 35, 000 square meters, located in the northeast of the zoo. Seen from afar, the hall looks like a gigantic ocean trumpet shell. The shape of the architecture tells the visitors that it is a place associated with the sea. Going into this huge "trumpet shell," you find yourself really in close contact with the sea. The spacious hall is subdivided into several zones: the Hall of Tropical Rain Forest, the Hall of the Shark, the Ocean Theater and the Ocean Library and Reading Hall among others. Here the visitors can touch the aquarium in which the dynamic ocean bottom is visible. Through the close contact with the various sea creatures, one feels as if he or she was at the bottom of a vast ocean. In addition to seeing the natural conditional of the ocean life, visitors are also invited to enjoy an interesting sea animal show. Those clever and cute sea animals such as dolphin make your trip hard to forget.
The Lion and Tiger Mountain is another popular part of the zoo. Built in 1955, the artificial hill stands in the east of the zoo. The exhibition hall is actually inside of the hill. The lions and tiger are kings of the forest and are known to many as the most beautiful animals in this globe. The movable clerestories promote the ventilation and lighting of the "mountain" and enable the visitors to safely observe the kings of the animal kingdom.
The specialty of the Beijing Zoo is the hall of giant panda. The giant panda is only found in China and recognized as China's national treasure and is its symbol.
The giant pandas always receive the "VIP" treatment wherever they go. People can tell who lives here by the unique shape of the hall – bamboo, the favorite food for the cute panda baby. Inside the hall, the lush bushes and bamboo make the place like its wild habitat in southwest China.
Many other halls also attract large number of tourists. The hall of giraffe, hall of gorilla, and the hall of elephant are the most recommended.
The zoo also has gardens to grow the flower that enjoy the most popularity in China like the Chinese rose and peony (peony is the national flower of China, signifying wealth and prosperity). While observing the lovely animals and the beautiful flowers, tourists can also enjoy the delicious food in the zoo. The restaurant Bin Feng Tang offers great imperial palace cuisines.
The zoo also has a scientific purpose. The China Animal Research Center has a series of research bases in the zoo. Many important research projects aiming to protect the endangered animals are carried out here. A protection project for the Northeast Tiger as well as a program for artificial propagation of giant panda are recent successful examples.
Help us improve our web site by Editing This Article.
There are 2 comments about Beijing Zoo:
Beijingexpat Says:2008-2-15 3:28:00
The zoo is a great place for kids. They love it. But the poor condition of these animals make me feel uncomfortable.
There are 0 questions about Beijing Zoo:
Beijing Zoo has pandas, and if you only go to see them you are fine. They have good cages, outdoor spaces and all the bamboo they can eat. The rest of the Zoo is fairly depressing though. Try to avoid the panthers and lions, crammed into small cages spending their days walking around in small circles, or the polar bear living outdoors in the Beijing summer heat. The animals are kept more like plants than living creatures. So if you want to see pandas, buy the panda ticket, but skip the rest of the Zoo.