Wednesday, May 21, 2008 Xiangjiang Safari Park By Jojie Alcantara Witerary
COVERING an area of 130 hectares and located in the biggest city in south China Guangzhou, Chime-Long Xiangjiang Safari Park is considered the biggest and best animal theme park in Asia.
Since it opened to the public in 1997, the park has already received over millions of tourists and is recognized as China's largest and best safari park.
As the first zoo to be awarded the National 5A class Tourist Attraction Level in China, it is home to over 20,000 animals from 460 species including many rare and endangered species (an example, 100 white tigers born in this park covers over 50 percent of the whole amount of this species on earth).
Animals include Giant Pandas, Polar Bears, Australian Koalas, Honduras giant anteaters, Norwegian polar bears, Black Rhinoceros, Giant Anteaters, Golden Monkeys, Malay Tapirs, Polar Bears, White Kangaroos, Sierra Leone hippos and a vast collection of African animals, monkey species, and other Asian animals.
It is the only zoo in mainland China to display Koalas (donated by Australia Queensland Park) and the birth of koala twins, an extremely rare occurrence in the world which caused a frenzy in the Chinese media last year.
The zoo is divided into two main sections: a "Safari on Foot" where guests walk through enclosed shelters to interact with animals (with stores to buy stuff toys), and a "Safari on Wheels" section where guests board road trains and travel through an impressive open plains with three main areas: an Asian plains, African Savannah and Predator zone.
Being different from all the other parks in mainland China, it used over one million square meters to build the Safari On Wheels area.
I have had the greatest opportunity to witness such spectacular grandeur of animals I wanted to see in real life (white tiger!!), but because of time and such a huge area to be covered, I missed viewing more of my favorites (polar bears, giant anteaters, white lion) in our haste to prepare for the evening's equally spectacular circus.
My companions were the top travel agents in Davao (headed by DTAA President Alex Divinagracia of Globalwings Travel-Davao) and Cebu Pacific official Dinah Garcia, courtesy of Cebu Pacific direct two-hour flights from Manila to Guangzhou, China.
(E-mail the writer a jojiealcantara@gmail.com or visit her website www.witerary.com)
