In case you weren’t aware, I enjoy visiting aquariums and zoos. So, when it was absolutely freezing recently, like -20 degrees Celsius cold, I decided to visit the Beijing Aquarium not too far from my apartment at the zoo for a date instead of ice skating. The website was promising, and reviews I had seen seemed decent enough, but I’ll admit I wasn’t blown away or even impressed. It was like many things in the world being all about the show and no substance.
Rainforest
I got excited when I saw that the first space to visit was a rainforest with trees and natural looking facades on the walls. Then I saw that it was all fake, not just the stone wall, which is to be expected, but the foliage and atmosphere was completely fake. And, the first fish were koi in a rainforest tank.
Anyway, the path through this rainforest was a nice winding journey that included some very nice large tanks with some beautiful fish and a few reptiles. However, fish started repeating themselves even though the signage said it was something else. And, most of the fish were standard home aquarium fish.
Central Room
The rainforest empties into a large central court. From this space we could choose any number of activities. The carnival atmosphere was a little strange, but the shark tank with sting rays was large and impressive. Right next to this though was a sad scene of two beluga whales in a very small tank. Every once in a while one of them would surface and squeal. Instead of the usual playful sound you would hear from one of these majestic mammals it sounded like a kid screaming.
Along this central room we also saw some dolphins through little windows into their bigger, albeit in pools that are still too small. Mixed in with these displays were several vendors for souvenirs, experiences and food. The entrances and exits for other exhibition halls are also found along this central hub.
Amphitheater
A highlight of my visit and I think anyone’s visit to the Beijing Aquarium is the show. It takes place in a huge amphitheater with seats for several hundred if not a thousand or more people. Unlike other similar performances I’ve seen in China, this was much more educational instead of purely for entertainment. However, it was in Chinese, so I relied on a little translation from my friend and the visual aids.
The 30-minute presentation consisted of two sea lions, two beluga whales, and four bottlenose dolphins. There weren’t a lot of acrobatics, but very simple exercises. I enjoyed the show.
Endangered Fish
One of the other main exhibition halls has a single large tank. It is home to a rare breeding collection of endangered Chinese fish native to the Yangtze River. They are large sturgeon-like fish, but have very ugly faces. The exhibition talks about these special animals and efforts to protect them from extinction. The hall is pretty big though for only having one tank and appears to the aquarium’s main event rental space.
Coral Reef and Jellyfish
Our final exhibition hall to explore showcased the tropical wonders of coral reefs and jellyfish. It centers around one very large tank with reef. The route through this hall winds down like a seashell wrapping around this display. This means we saw the main tank with sea turtle and sharks, and such from all four sides. Along the outer walls are several other tanks displaying other fish and crustaceans from the coral reef environment. However, the whole place felt very drab and lifeless. The coral inserts were all fake, and there was little color in the tanks. I probably would have wandered through the place very fast if I weren’t enjoying the time with someone.
The jellyfish displays brought a little color to the place, but not much. The standard tube tanks had schools of jellies of many kinds. They were beautiful.
All-in-all, the Beijing Aquarium is ok, but I don’t think it was really worth the admission fee. If the weather had been better, then the admission may have been worth it as part of a day at the zoo. I think the Hefei Aquarium was better. There is another aquarium in Beijing that I’ll have to check out someday. Until then, go have an adventure of your own.
