Visitors at the Hangzhou Wild Animal Park.

Hangzhou Polar Ocean Park offers a range of shows and more than 16 species from the arctic region.

Eschewing groups, more are enjoying self-planned trips

Hangzhou, a city famed for its scenery in east China's Zhejiang province, is enjoying a new tourism boom as families plan their own trips instead of joining tourist groups.

The city's famous theme parks are among the main attractions for family vacations.

Songcheng

Songcheng in Hangzhou city, China's largest theme park, features the culture of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Its sections include one modeled on the classical painting Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival as well as replicas of Songcheng square, Jiulong square and the imperial palace of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

In front of Songcheng's main gate, 10-meter-high pillars line a spectacular entryway.

Inside the scenic spot, vendors wearing Song costumes sell tea and other drinks in ancient-style shops. Visitors also have the chance to watch magic shows, folk dances and ancient Chinese wedding ceremonies.

Pingshu - or story telling - along with Yueju opera and shadow plays of ancient Chinese tales and poems make Songcheng a good place to educate children in a fun way about Chinese history.

Ancient-style costumes are also available for rent, enabling children to be ancient generals, emperors and scholars for the day.

Tickets for Songcheng are 80 yuan, with children between 1.1 and 1.4 meters tall charged half price.

Wild Animal Park

The 4,000 mu - 267 hectare - Hangzhou Wild Animal Park, 15 km from the city's downtown area, is the largest wild animal park in east China.

The park has about 200 species and more than 10,000 animals, 70 percent of which are rare species from foreign countries.

Built at a cost of 230 million yuan, the park has received more than 60,000 visitors per day after opening in 2002.

Visitors can watch animals in mostly outdoor exhibits at more than 20 places in the park, including Peacock Park, Swan Lake, Orangutan Room and African Wild Lands.

A large hall that can seat 8,000 visitors offers circus shows. Two other halls feature performances by elephants and birds.

There are separate areas available for visitors to view the park by walking and those who want to visit by driving.

A new 50 million yuan area with recreational facilities opened to the public last fall.

Tickets for the park are 130 yuan, with children between 1.1 and 1.4 meters tall charged half price.

Polar Ocean Park

Hangzhou Polar Ocean Park, 7 km from downtown Hangzhou, is China's largest polar ocean park, covering a total area of 330 mu.

Built at a cost of 1 billion yuan, it opened in 2008.

The park's 15,000 tons of water helps provide habitat to more than 150 polar animals from 16 species and more than 1,000 fish species.

Visitors can watch rare polar bears, beluga whales, walruses, arctic foxes and wolves in the park.

Performances by ocean animals including polar bears, arctic wolves and sea lions are also popular attractions.

A restaurant surrounded by an aquarium allows visitors to watch fish, dolphins and whales while eating.

The park also has 20 large recreational facilities. Tickets for the entire park cost 150 yuan, with children below 1.3 meters tall charged 120 yuan.

(China Daily 07/06/2010 page7)