Natural Ecosystem: Underwater Forests and Marine Wilderness
The ecological landscaping of Beijing Aquarium delivers a stunning visual feast blending wildlife, light, shadow and marine science.
Graceful Marine Inhabitants: The Living Vein of the Ocean
African Spotted Penguins: Settled at Penguin Island in 2019, these cute natives from the southwest African coast totter clumsily on land. During feeding sessions (around 14:00 daily), visitors can watch them dash into the water, splashing water amid children’s cheerful laughter.
Arapaima: One of the world’s largest freshwater fish species, with mature individuals exceeding 2.5 meters in body length. Juveniles feature cyan skin, while adult specimens develop striking crimson edging along each scale; such specimens are rarely available for public viewing across Beijing’s aquariums.
Beluga Whales: Pure-white, gentle arctic and subarctic marine mammals residing in the Bering Strait exhibit. They cooperate closely with professional trainers to stage the iconic "Ocean Heart" interactive performance and frequently swim up against the glass to interact face-to-face with visitors.
Chinese Sturgeon: Dubbed the "Giant Panda of Waters", this prehistoric species has survived on Earth for 140 million years. Beijing Aquarium houses the world’s longest seamless acrylic viewing panel, allowing guests to witness these ancient gliding creatures up close for an awe-inspiring experience.
Magnificent Exhibition Tanks: Silent Underwater Scrolls & Magical Light Effects
Shark Town: A 270° floor-to-ceiling panoramic glass wall lets visitors watch sharks glide straight toward the viewport and spotted rays slide lazily against the glass, a viral heartwarming highlight. The tank bottom features a 70-meter-long, 380-square-meter 3D mural named Sunken Ocean City, bringing the post-apocalyptic oceanic scenery of Waterworld to real life.
Underwater Tunnel: The aquarium’s most densely populated and dreamlike spot for marine life. Thirty-plus connected exhibition tanks trace an ocean route starting from the South China Sea, passing the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Mediterranean before ending at the Atlantic Ocean. Standing beneath the arched tunnel, guests see sharks gliding overhead and stingrays spreading their wing-like pectoral fins to drift past, fully immersed in an authentic open-ocean environment.
Jellyfish Wonderland: Fluorescent jellyfish dance amid shifting colored lighting, while mirrored wall reflections visually stretch the space infinitely, offering ideal backdrops for cyberpunk-style photography.
Human-Crafted Ingenuity: The Building Itself as an Exhibit
Every themed zone serves not only as animal habitats but also as popular science classrooms and immersive performance venues.
Conch-Shaped Main Building: The Aquarium’s Iconic Landmark
Designed after a natural seashell, the main building combines vibrant navy blue and warm orange-red facades, symbolizing boundless ocean waters and thriving marine vitality respectively. No matter which entrance visitors take from Beijing Zoo grounds, the distinctive conch silhouette stands out as the first eye-catching landmark.
Seven Sequential Themed Zones: A Non-backtracking Deep-Sea Exploration Route
The internal layout follows a clockwise visiting trail designed to avoid redundant detours, guiding guests from shallow freshwater habitats gradually down to deep-sea ecosystems in this fixed order:
Rainforest Adventure → Shark Town → Bering Strait → National Treasure Chinese Sturgeon Pavilion → Global Ocean Journey → Whale & Dolphin Bay Lounge → Ocean Live Theater. This progressive depth-focused route enables visitors to systematically absorb comprehensive marine knowledge effortlessly.
Ocean Live Theater: A 3,000-Seat Marine Performance Venue
China’s largest indoor marine animal performance auditorium of its kind accommodates over 3,000 audience members. The show features breathtaking dolphin leaps and clever sea lion acts including basketball shooting and simple arithmetic calculation, complemented by professional stage design and immersive 4K naked-eye 3D projection that elevates live shows to full theatrical standards.
Photography Hacks: Shoot upward at the bend of the underwater tunnel with a wide-angle lens to frame fish shoals and the vaulted ceiling; wear white outfits in the red-lit zone of Jellyfish Wonderland for stunning cyberpunk shots; capture family silhouettes in front of Shark Town’s giant glass backdrop against the ocean scenery.
