Our driver, Sam, kept wanting to take us to ocean park. We thought it was an actual park. So when he wanted to take us when it was raining, we were confused when he told us it was indoors. Then we saw it – Shanghai Aquarium. So why did he call it ocean park? I’ll have to google that one later.
Shanghai aquarium is located on the Pudong side (west of the Huang Pu river) in the financial district right next to the oriental pearl TV tower. Entrance fee is 888 rmb for a family yearly pass, or 140 rmb per adult and 110 per kid over 1 m for a daily pass. Why do they do this height business? I think too many people lie about their kids age, so they have resorted to heights. Just in case you wanted to know, 1 m = 39.37 inches. Score, we just had to pay for 1 kid.
The aquarium was very well kept (Shanghai standards) and beautiful. It’s actually one of the largest aquariums in the world. Now I know why there was a hefty entrance fee (compared to the zoo). We saw so many creatures we have never seen before.
The kids unfortunately enjoyed playing with all the sculptures of kangaroos, penguins and starfish more than the actual aquarium. Although, they did love the jelly fish exhibition!
My favorite was going down an escalator that was surrounded by water, a crocodile, two swans and fish. I wanted to keep going up and down, but I was vetoed.
The aquarium is known for the longest underwater viewing tunnel. The first section had sharks, turtles and fish. The second section had sting rays and schools of fish. The third section had a coral reef along with a colorful array of fish. The third section definitely made me want to go diving again!
A big plus for the aquarium was that there was a bathroom every 10 feet (ok, maybe 50 feet). This was a big plus because bathrooms aren’t as abundant as they are in the US. And they were very clean! Even equipped with toilet paper in each stall.
Not a bad place for a couple hours of entertainment. Next time I’ll go by myself. That way I can actually read about all the sea creatures in peace.
What a wonderful Aquarium! For the pictures, they have so many beautiful aquatics animals. The tunnel under waters is incredible. If we go to visit you, I would like to go there. It looks fun!