Located in Pudong, a short walk from the Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai Ocean Aquarium attract a constant flow of school kid and families throughout the week. On weekends/holidays, though, be prepared for crowds (particularly inside the tunnel), so if you want a bit more elbow room while watching the sharks float by, go during a weekday morning or get there early. There are multiple areas, polar pools, freshwater rivers, and coral reefs, but eventually you’ll get to the main attraction: a hundred-and-fifty-metre acrylic tunnel under millions of litres of seawater.
Here’s an article that takes you from buying your ticket all the way to getting that last gift-shop plushie.
From the Ticket Counter to the Gift Shop
Shanghai Ocean Aquarium
The ticket counter is located right at the entrance; above it are screens that cycle through exhibit info and other promotions. Queues forms during peak periods, so buying in advance online will save you a little time. Tickets cost about ¥160 each for adults, slightly less for seniors and children.
There is a floor map at the beginning indicating the layout. While there’s not much freestyle exploration, there’s a route through themed areas of the aquarium and the crowd moves along with it, so you can’t easily backtrack if you want a second look at an exhibit.
Conservation messages pop up all over. These include campaign posters and educational boards about sharks that remind guests how threatened most species is. There are feeding demos and talks (but check in advance as they vary and some are only in Mandarin).
The tour begins in freshwater halls. Rocky tanks recreate China’s major rivers, where sturgeon, carp, and other heavy-bodied river fish floats by. It’s dark in here, which is good for the fish but not so great when trying to take pictures!
Near the end of the China zone, ducks swim alongside ornamental goldfish in a shallow pool. ).
Next are some tropical freshwater displays. There’s a tank of discus hanging out amid driftwood tangle; there are tetras swimming among plants; and clownfish dart around anemones. A few of the tanks is illuminated from behind in strange colors that highlight the fish, though they don’t match nature at all.
Several tanks has catfish cruising the bottom. Up close, they’re quite large and impressive, and you can actualy see them using their whiskers to sweep along the gravel, thanks to the glass.
Between exhibits is a landscaped pool containing black swans. Okay, not marine animals, but it provides a break for the path and keeps things interesting until the next series of tank. Terrariums built into the walls contain humid plantings of bromeliads. Turtles and tortoises waddles through rocky grottos.
The tunnel doesn’t start off too dramatically, one second you’re facing a pane of flat glass, the next you’ve stepped on a moving walkway under a dome of curving water above. Turtles, guitarfish, and little reef fish swims above your head.
The undersides of the guitarfish are pale and weirdly textured; they flatten themselves out against the acrylic.
The pace picks up here… The walkway continues onward, and you’ll have to get off it if you want to dawdle.
Just before the tunnel gets deeper, there is another polar zone where seals swim. These guys is curious and playful, sometimes putting their faces right up against the glass as kids knocks on it. The largest gathering occurs during feeding time, when there’s lots of squealing and splashing that echoes throughout the hall.
The seals share the pool with penguins, who dive and play around fake ice floes. On occasion, keepers will emerge on the ice to feed them or clean, and this makes the animals even more animated than normal.
Coral tanks line the approach to the main tunnel. Lionfish hover over rockwork with their fins splayed open, fan corals wave softly in the current, and garden eels emerges from the sand. Although the reef portion isn’t as large than you’d think, every square foot of space contains more life than most people could imagine.
Backlit jellyfish galleries floats in the dimness, their translucent bell bodies illuminated while their trailing tentacles dangle. Moon jellies pulsate together in time, and if you can ignore the surrounding chatter, it’s hypnotic.
As the tunnel curves deeper, you’ll see groupers and moray eels hiding in nooks and crannies. Though the eels remains largely concealed, Those who wait patiently will see them pop their heads out whenever smaller fish get too close.
Finally, sharks come over head (blacktips), sand tigers, even an occasional nurse shark glide slowly in lazy circles. Schools of smaller fish sweeps by in coordinated movements; sea turtles ply the waters, rays stretch out on the roof of the tunnel, and then… everyone pauses for a moment to crane (or not) around before the walkway begins slowing again so we can all look upward.
It narrows and opens up at the end, spitting us out into a hall filled with other smaller tanks containing open-water swimmers and reef grazers. From there, the route spirals downward, returning us to educational displays and dry exhibits.
At the end of it all is the gift shop, which you can’t help but notice because there’s a giant penguin statue standing guard outside. Inside, shelves is filled with ducks, octopuses, lobsters, and plush sharks of all sizes. The bins are full of little toys that are reasonably priced to attract children as they exit.
There is a little café near the exit in case you want something to eat before you run back out into the Pudong heat. It’s a noodle shop with some rice bowls, a few drinks, and nothing that will blow your mind, but it’s handy if you’ve walked around for two hours and want to sit down for a while. Allow yourself at least an hour or so here (more if you’re visiting during a feeding demo or take your time in the tunnel).
While it’s not huge by world standards, the aquarium do pack a lot into its space and, if you’ve never been under sharks in a tunnel before, that alone is worth the visit. If you have visited Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, or plan to go soon, what are you most interested in seeing there?
