Qingdao Aquarium - ZooChat I had no real intention to visit Qingdao Aquarium. I wanted to visit the city of Qingdao primarily, and having searched for a collection to add to the itinerary this one seemed like the most interesting. The aquarium itself would be unremarkable, were it not for its history. It is the oldest aquarium in China, having opened in 1932. It is both a blessing and a curse that it shows. The aquarium is situated in a park on a rocky sea shore, which is very picturesque. On a freezing February morning it was fantastic, no doubt in summer it is equally so. There are several buildings stretched along the park, starting with a gorgeous pagoda that presumably dates to the opening. This now primarily holds jellyfish, and does a good job of it. Sadly there is also a truly despicable sea turtle exhibit that might be the worst enclosure in China (even if the inhabitants are disabled there is no excuse). Following this is a 'pavilion' for marine mammals. It has a few indoor exhibits for a sea lion species and spotted seals. Sadly I've seen enough of these that I've become somewhat inured to them; if you haven't you would be pretty horrified. Next is a Marine Museum, with lots of preserved specimens from all across the animal kingdom. I know that some people aren't too keen on these in zoos; personally I enjoy them a lot and they are fairly common in Chinese Zoos. A separate annex holds a very enjoyable whale room. The final area, which is somewhat subterranean, is a more modern aquarium set-up (I use the term 'modern' loosely). It begins with a series of smaller tanks for freshwater and local fish, then straight into a walk-though tunnel exhibit. This would be fine were it not for the weird red jacket one of the sea turtles was wearing. Proceeding on there is a large hall. In the centre is a tall cylindrical reef tank. Like everything in this area it really needs a good wipe down and a lick of paint. Around the sides are small satellite exhibits for lion-fish and the like, and at the back is a large tank for the mermaid show. I was rather lecherously looking forward to this but in fact it turned out to be feeding and target training for golden trevallies and nurse sharks. Which is also okay. Leaving this hall, towards the exit, one finds a few tanks, some containing small octopus species. Finally is the gift shop, which rather tastelessly sells a variety of seafood products. Qingdao Aquarium is not a particularly good aquarium. It is an interesting one to visit, because of the history, and the museum is nice but that's about it. Perhaps at the end of writing about the run of zoos I did in February I will do a short post about the merits of the region for zoonerds, which are modest but tangible. I liked the city of Qingdao quite a bit as well, although it would sit quite far down the list of must visit places in China.
