Beijing Zoo is a national AAAA tourist attraction, one of the ten best zoos in China, a national scientific education base for teenagers, and one of the high-quality parks in Beijing. Located in Xizhimen Outer Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, it is easily accessible by many buses. With a long history and pleasant scenery, it has the largest amount of wild animals in the country.
Beijing Zoo was established in 1906, or the 32nd year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, when it was called the Agricultural Experimentation Center, which had been built on the former sites of Leshan Garden, Ji Garden, Guangshan Temple, and Hui’an Temple. At that time the zoo, which covered no more than 15,000 square meters, kept and showed more than 100 wild animals of 80 species that Duan Fang, a Qing minister, bought in Germany for Empress Dowager Cixi. Over the years, its name had been changed several times. In 1950, it was made a park called Xijiao Park. In April 1955, it was officially named Beijing Zoo.
The zoo covers an area of about 900,000 square meters. With lush groves of trees and meandering streams, it is dotted by 40 animal houses (excluding Beijing Aquarium) of various designs that cover over 100,000 square meters. The most important of them are: Giant Panda House, Monkey Hill, Bear Hill, Lion & Tiger Hill, Water Bird Lake, African Zone, Giraffe House, Golden Monkey House, Gorilla House, Amphibian & Reptile House, Penguin House, Medium-Sized Predator House, Nocturnal Animals House, Pheasant Garden, Deer Garden, Bird Garden, Hippo & Rhinoceros House, Elephant House, and Little Animal Club. The monkey Hill is the only one built before the founding of PRC.
Each year, the zoo spends money on introducing new animals and updating animal houses to better simulate their natural habitats. The Popular Science Hall built in 2001, for which Mr. Zhao Puchu (a renowned lay Buddhist) inscribed its name, teaches knowledge about wild animals by modern audio-visual technology and display of specimens and live insects.
The zoo displays over 6,000 animals (excluding oceanic animals) of about 500 species. 50% of the species are under first- or second-class national protection, or listed in Appendices I, II, & III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Scientific research at the zoo has won four state-level prizes.
The zoo receives several million tourists from home and abroad each year. As a public welfare institution, it abides by the tenet ‘attaching equal importance to education, protection, safety, and service’.
In the zoo there are many architectures dating back to the late Qing Dynasty, such as the main gate, three buildings respectively in the east, west, and north, Great View Tower in the northwest, and Changchun Hall. Great View Towerwas the only remaining western-style temporary imperial abode in the country, where Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu had sojourned shortly after it was built in the late Qing Dynasty. After the 1911 Revolution, Dr. Sun Yat-sen had made speeches here several times. In 1954, the tenth Panchen Lama lived here when he was attending the First Session of the First National People’s Congress. In 1912, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Song Jiaoren lived in Changchun Hall. The Song Jiaoren Memorial Tower was built behind the hall, but only its pedestal survived today. Other relics include Yilü Pavilion and Songfeng Luoyue Balconynext to the lion & tiger hill, Huifang Balcony, Binfeng Hall, and Peony Pavilion behind the panda house. Also behind it is a monument to four martyrs of the 1911 Revolution. The zoo has a breeding ground in the Ming Tombs area.
Address: No. 137 Xizhimen Outer Street, Xicheng District, Beijing
