Jinan Zoo

Jinan Zoo [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Built in 1959, Jinan Zoo is located in the north of Jinan, a city of springs in Shandong province. Covering over 60 hectares, it is one of the biggest zoos in China and in 1995 was named one of China's Top 10 Best Zoos by the Ministry of Development and the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens.

Jinan Zoo has a beautiful natural landscape, an ancient-style cultural landscape, and abundant species of animals and plants. It has nearly 100 varieties of trees and shrubs, Jinniu Mountain, Jinniu Lake, Xiaoqing and Gongshang rivers, carpets of green grass, zigzag paths, and various animal exhibition areas distributed on both sides of the winding mountain road. The zoo has 200 varieties of over 3,000 precious animals from all over the world, including snub-nosed monkeys, Francois' langurs, elk, tahr, and chimpanzees, elephants and giraffe from Africa.

Workers at the zoo attach importance to ecology and culture, keep improving the zoo's environment, actively conduct work about wild animal protection and reproduction, scientific research and popularization of science, and provide quality services. They aim to give visitors to the zoo a feeling of being in nature and to turn the zoo into an oxygen bar, an entertainment park, and a science classroom for the public. Cuihualou Restaurant, located in the zoo, can accommodate 300 people at the same time.

The zoo's World of Elves amusement park is equipped with about 30 entertainment facilities such as a ferris wheel, a two-layered carousel, bumper cars, a roller coaster, and a flume ride.