The Shunyi Animal Star World 顺义动物星世界 is a fun little menagerie of animals tucked away in 高丽营镇 past the old international airport and definitely worth a day trip for several reasons, especially during this CNY!
1. Interactivity with the animals
Aside from buying a bag of raw veggie scraps to toss or hand feed to the various beasts housed at Shunyi Animal Star World, the reptile house was full of opportunities to get up close and personal with cold-blooded animals. Inside the warm humid indoor “greenhouse”, a jolly announcer introduced us to all sorts of reptiles living inside the clear cages and tanks. They only speak Mandarin so either have a bilingual friend or your translator handy. They were very meticulous about sanitation, always disinfecting our hands before letting us hold each scaly creature, and also made sure each visitor had a turn. The nice fella even gave us some free food to feed the fishes and turtles.
2. Animal Shows
There are two animal shows available at Shunyi Animal Star World: the “Animal City” show at 11am in the space across the Tiger Restaurant, and the 2pm performance at the “Animal Theatre”. Truth be told, I much preferred the Animal City show as it was mostly domestic pets such as dogs, cats and even mice doing cute tricks. The other show utilised a small sun bear, monkeys and miniature horses to perform comedic skits and stunts, which my son said seemed “mean to treat wild animals like that for our entertainment”. It gave us the chance to discuss the purpose of zoos and the multi-faceted argument of keeping animals in captivity. Ultimately, the decision is yours.
3. Hedge Maze of the Beasts + Outdoor playground
If you want to see the kings of the jungle, lions and tigers that is, you’ll have to make your way through the Maze of the Beasts to find them. The kids ran through the maze several times, the first time completely missing the point of seeing the animals. For even more outdoor fun, there’s also a good-sized outdoor play area, though you’ll have to top up RMB58 per child for it. You can buy your tickets at the little container store, where you’ll also be lured by the scent of cotton candy, pop corn and Chinese sausages!
4. Tiger Restaurant
This was one of the major highlights of our trip. Newly opened last August in 2021, 虎餐厅 T-House or Tiger Restaurant, is a clean and fun restaurant that has one huge draw – Real Live Tigers on the premises! Come on, how much fun would it be to welcome the year of the tiger with a family photo with the tiger itself?! These majestic creatures roam an outdoor area in the center of the restaurant, so you can see them from all angles.
PRO TIP: The tigers tend to be more active later in the day, from 4pm to dusk, so schedule a late lunch or early dinner for the most fun tiger sightings!
Kids may be torn between watching the tigers and spending their time at the well-maintained indoor playground at the restaurant too! Also, if you’re into that sort of thing, a couple of tables are placed within view of a television playing kids’ cartoons.
There is also the option to host a birthday party at the restaurant’s private dining areas, which can each comfortably seat 20. The package starts from RMB5000 including food, decorations, and 3 hours’ use of the room, plus some onstage entertainment options.
PRO TIP: If you just want to dine at the Tiger Restaurant without visiting Shunyi Animal Star World, you can enter the restaurant via a back entrance, but only after 5pm. The restaurant closes at 9pm.
The staff at the restaurant are exceptionally hospitable, gifting each of our kids a small tiger keychain (my kid bought the white tiger stuffie) and even filling up our water bottles for us. They accept reservations during the weekdays, but not the weekends.
Tickets to the Shunyi Animal Star World are RMB88 each and children above 1m pay the same. Their opening hours are Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm, with final entry at 4pm.
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Images: Ray Wu, Vivienne Tseng-Rush, Dianping
