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MichaelJM
MichaelJM
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Editor Pick

Five 'Must See' Enclosures of Beijing Zoo

  • October 12, 2009
  • Rated 4 of 5 by happysh2009 from tu, United Kingdom
Five 'Must See' Enclosures of Beijing Zoo

Advantages: can see some rare animals.

Disadvantages: too crowded for animals and visitors both.

Beijing Zoo is one of the most popular tourist sites in Beijing. It was built in 1908 and was the first zoo to be opened to the general public in China.

It is located in the Xicheng district of Beijing city, which is now one of prosperous business areas of the city. It's very easy to get there as many buses pass by the zoo. You could also try one of the two canal routes, which leave via Summer Palace.

Beijing Zoo covers an area of more than 50 000 square meters, has a collection of more than 600 animal species and a population of more than 7 000 animals. There are more than 30 large halls, not only for wild and rare native animals to China, but also for many wild and rare animals from around the world.

There are 5 'must see' enclosures when you visit the zoo.

1. Great Panda Halls

The Great Panda Halls are near the main entrance of Beijing Zoo. The new hall was opened in 1990 and in same year was awarded the status of one of the top 10 buildings of Beijing. The design reflects the symbol of Tai Chi, which connects closely with Chinese culture. There are 5 pandas in the new hall and 8 pandas in the old hall, which was reconstructed for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Incidentally those 8 pandas came from Sichuan after the earthquake of 12 May 2008.

2. Lion and Tiger Hill

It's another famous site. It was built in 1955 and is located in the eastern part of Beijing Zoo. It covers an area more than 560 square meters and includes a man-made hill. There you can see wild tigers from the north-east of China. They are very rare in the world. You can also see 2 white tigers from Bangladesh. These have already disappeared in the wild and there are approximately 220 left in captivity. Apart from the tigers you can also see a lion family from Africa and some Asian bears.

3. Monkey Hill and Golden Monkey Hall

The monkey is very popular with Chinese people. On Monkey Hill you can see monkeys from different parts of China, such as Sichuan, Guangdong and Zhejiang etc. In the Golden Monkey Hall you can see a troop of the so called world's most valuable monkey named the Golden monkey. These animals come from Yunnan province.

4. Beijing Sea Hall

It was opened in 1999 and is the biggest aquarium in China. There are six exhibition sites with different themes. They are referred to as the wonders of the tropical rainforest, the touch pool, the deep sea world, the shark aquarium, the whale and dolphin pools and finally the marine Theatre Bay. There are two shows in the Theater Bay every day, which are performed by the dolphins, the whales, the sea lions and other mammals.

5. Penguin Hall and Polar Bear Hall

In the two halls you can see penguins from the South Pole and polar bears from the North Pole. Isn't it exciting to see two Poles in one trip?

Besides the five enclosures mentioned above you can also see, amongst so many other animals, kangaroos, koala bears and emus from Australasia, and zebras, elephants as wells as flamingoes from Africa.

When you are feeling tired from your wanderings take a break by the zoo's lake. There you can see many birds, some of whom migrate from the south of China and some from as far away as the Far East.

Finally you can also visit many old buildings that were constructed in the Qing Dynasty and wander among the many very ancient trees that are scattered around the zoo.

Summary: There are some to see in the zoo.
Editor Pick

Beijing’s Zoo

  • March 5, 2008
  • Rated 5 of 5 by SeenThat from Tel Aviv, Israel
Beijing’s Zoo

I find the very idea of a zoo disgusting; even if justified by the efforts to save endangered species it is just a placebo conscience tranquilizer for ruining their habitat. Yet, time and again I find myself visiting them, since sometimes they offer fascinating insights into the human culture that created them.

Beijing’s Zoo

For some reason I never managed to read anything positive about the Beijing Zoo, so I took it as a personal challenge to do so; it didn’t took long to get disappointed and find that it wasn’t so hard to do it.

Maybe it is done as a way of indirectly criticizing a regime which does not respect basic human rights. Few would argue with this last argument, endless events support it on an almost daily base; every visit would display before the traveller such reality. However spreading out misinformation is not the way to fix the situation; on the contrary it only antagonizes local authorities.

Certain zoos became famous not due to the spread of their collections but due to their providing haven for rare or endangered species. The zoo of La Paz has at its centre a huge dome constructed of a wide framework containing several condors. Beijing’s Zoo is famous for its pandas which had become a synonym of China, many other zoos, like the one in Chiang Mai got pandas as a gift from their peer in Beijing.

Reaching the Zoo

The zoo can be reached using the subway to the Xizhimen Station; from there it is a short walk to the zoo’s main gate.

Visiting a Jail

The key point for enjoying such a visit is arriving with the right attitude; I arrived there in a cold winter day with playful snowflakes enlightening the views, to find a grand garden with only a small part of it in use.

White views immediately created a feeling of luxury, a feeling of a big personal space which is at premium price in Beijing. This fact already justified the afternoon spent there, sipping hot coffee from a thermos and writing some journals’ entries.

The huge central lake was completely frozen, and for a hot-climate dweller like me, seeing the cleaning personnel walking on the frozen lake while cleaning the fallen autumn leaves was a feast by itself. As for the animals themselves, despite all my reading about their suffering, they looked well enough.

The Cages

All the cages and spaces dedicated to them were built in the big scale of the whole place – and in a second thought in the big scale of Beijing itself. They were obviously well fed; no skinny bears were in sight.

The polar bear was feeling at home, wandering around its big cage; not far away from there a tiger was making exercises to warm himself, but otherwise looking pleased.

A lion was behind bars, but he didn’t seem to care about going out – it was just his preferred power-nap spot: I never imagined that a lion could smile till I saw this one. The herd animals obviously were not able to swallow the huge quantities of hay and other foods surrounding them.

The Stars

The pandas are the star exhibition; they are hosted in a heated pavilion since they prefer places hotter than Beijing; the traveller visits them while walking along a corridor with glass walls separating him from them. The glass doesn’t allow taking clear pictures, but it wouldn’t have made a big change since the animals are active and not surrendering to the cameras.

Native of Southern China, the pandas are endangered animals due to their dependence on the rapidly disappearing bamboo forest; the Chinese efforts to preserve the animal are remarkable especially the creation of a subtropical climate for them in a freezing cold or burning hot Beijing.

A placid animal by nature they seemed extremely happy to chew on the bamboo sticks surrounding them in their climate controlled rooms. The transparent glass walls created for sure an illusion of space. Extrapolating human emotions to animals is dangerous and wrong, however it was clear the pandas were not intimidated by human presence nor raged at the visitors, this is a good sign they are being well treated.

Outside their palace were the red pandas running and playing in the many naked trees allotted to them.

The Gift

This entry could be continued in a very similar fashion for the rest of the animals in the zoo. The only weird thing I spotted during the visit was the little CD accompanying the entrance ticket; it contained a four minutes long video clip dedicated to animals which not all of them were hosted in the zoo, and even those who were, were shown elsewhere. That could be understandable, but I was very surprised to find a few gargantuan dinosaurs roaming among Lilliputian trees; nothing similar could be spotted within the park.

From journal Big Capital, Small Pleasures

Editor Pick

Beijing Zoo

  • June 22, 2005
  • Rated 2 of 5 by kwasiak from Tucson, Arizona
Beijing Zoo

I found the Beijing Zoo pretty unimpressive, but that may be more attributed to our guides rushing us through than to the actual looks of the zoo. Parts of the zoo itself, though, were rather overgrown. I felt that overgrowth was acceptable in the panda habitat, as it created more of a wild look, but whether it represented the wild habitat of pandas, I am not sure. I was rather annoyed that a bridge that had statues of the zodiac animals was so overgrown that some animals only had there heads showing. I was amazed to see something when I looked up, but I am sure it would be much more amazing and picture-worthy if the statues could actually be seen. Due to the fast nature of our walk through the zoo, the only thing I remember are this bridge, the giant pandas, and the store of panda souvenirs.

The giant pandas were hard to spot in their large enclosure, but I am glad their area is much larger than the viewing area of the pandas at the San Diego Zoo. The pandas even have a playground to play on, although it looks like it could use a little attention.

The shopping here is pretty cheap, like everywhere in China. The quality is lacking on some items, but you get what you pay for, I suppose. The T-shirt I bought for my brother is already loosing the panda design. The display-type souvenirs are fine, though.

From journal Beijing Bowling Classic

Editor Pick

Beijing Zoo

  • May 3, 2005
  • Rated 4 of 5 by MichaelJM from Nottingham, England
Beijing Zoo

I’m not a great fan of zoos, but we felt that no visit to Beijing would be complete without a bit of panda spotting. We took a 50RMB metered taxi ride to the zoo and paid our reduced entrance fee (we did not intend to visit the new aquarium) and then followed our noses (something we’d have preferred not to do in the elephant enclosure!)

The small cages and animal enclosures were 50s in appearance and not really conducive to good animal health. Indeed, we were surprised how unkempt much of the zoo seemed. The monkey enclosure was run down, and the captives looked unhealthy and unstimulated – a concrete pit with the odd suspended tyre was their home. Lesser pandas were restricted to a small, barred cage, and a variety of exotic birds were captivated with little room to stretch their wings.

On our walk round the zoo, we saw elephants, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, tigers, giraffes, antelopes, zebras, birds, reptiles, insects, and wild dogs--all, I’m afraid, in very "tired accommodations". But we’d not come to see any of these, fascinating as they might be.

Finally, we made it to the panda’s plusher pad. Indoors, two large black and white bundles were draped over tree stumps. They were static, and I was beginning to wonder if we were ogling large stuffed toys until one of the beasts twitched. We could feel the hushed excitement around the viewing enclosure, but stillness prevailed. The audience settled back to watch and wait. But I’m impatient and spotted a door, which I headed toward. This way led to open outdoor pits, and in one sat a feeding panda. For several minutes, we were on our own with this cuddly animal as it chomped noisily through a seemingly neverending supply of bamboo, its large, powerful jaw shredding the cane with no difficulty, occasionally pausing to look around before returning to its meal. After a long and close study, we returned indoors, just in time to see one of the pandas start its slow demounting from its tree bed. Actions were slow and purposeful, and when it finally "hit" the ground, the panda fell in a heap and momentarily returned to slumber.

But it was on a roll, and within seconds, this huge, furry bundle was back on its feet and limbering up for more action! A few more steps, and then it collapsed again. This whole process was repeated several times, until the panda was able to walk the full length of the enclosure and back before taking another panda nap. The gathering crowd muttered enthusiastically every time the panda moved, and I’m sure this one was working the audience. It stretched, walked, collapsed in a heap, and then sauntered to the front window – right under our very noses. Here it paused and posed and finally yawned before returning to its "bed" in the middle of the enclosure.

What a great sight – well worth our 15RMB!

From journal Visiting Outer Beijing

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