A visit to Shanghai Zoo, China to see pandas

When we were planning our trip to Shanghai this summer we knew that one thing we really wanted to see was giant pandas. We discovered that in Shanghai there are two options to see them - Shanghai Zoo and the Shanghai Wild Animal Park which both have giant pandas as well as a range of other animals. In the end we settled on Shanghai Zoo because we were more interested in some of the other animals that they have there - in particular the monkeys as we really enjoy seeing monkeys and other primates!

We travelled to Shanghai Zoo by taxi from our hotel in central Shanghai, as we found that booking taxis in Shanghai using the Didi app (which is very similar to Uber) was really easy and the rides were very reasonably priced. But if you prefer to use public transport then the Metro Line 10 stops at Shanghai Zoo Station which is right outside. We used Alipay to buy our tickets on the gate.

We arrived at the zoo as soon as it opened, around 8am, which meant that as well as avoiding the summer crowds we could also make the most of the very slightly cooler temperatures. Because the pandas were the main attraction for us we headed straight to their enclosure which was a really good move. There were only a couple of other people there, and the two pandas were out and about. 

We were able to see both pandas really close up and moving around in their outdoor enclosures, and we stayed for quite a while watching them.

Another draw for us was the penguins which were near the entrance, so we made our way back through the zoo stopping at various exhibits along the way. The zoo is very large and we found it quite difficult to navigate - and be prepared for a lot of walking! It's a good idea to take a photo of one of the maps to help you find your way around. There are a few places to buy snacks or water, and also some vending machines.

We found the penguins, and also enjoyed seeing the golden snub nosed monkeys, the lions and tigers, and the elephants.

The zoo was clean and tidy, and not at all crowded when we visited on a weekday in mid July. It was very hot which meant that we didn't feel up to spending the whole day there, but we comfortably saw everything that we wanted to in a couple of hours. Something to note about the toilets - almost all of the toilets were squat toilets which as Western visitors we aren't used to. If you need or prefer a pedestal toilet then look for the disabled toilet, we found one in every toilet block.

There is a lovely Swan Lake which features other water birds as well as swans, and overall the zoo was really open and pleasant to walk around, with plenty of green and scenic areas.

I found the design of the zoo a little old-fashioned and quite charming. Many of the enclosures had gorgeous hand painted signs showing the animals inside, inside which I loved. 

Almost all of the signage around the enclosures was entirely in Chinese, so if you don't speak Chinese you will need to make sure that you have a translation app on your phone - I like to use the Google Translate app. You can't use Google products easily in China, but I made sure to download the Chinese dictionary ahead of time and it worked really well. 

One thing that I had read before we visited the zoo was that the living conditions for the animals aren't perhaps quite as high as you might be used to seeing in other zoos around the world, and there is possibly some truth in that. We found that we saw every single animal, and often when you visit a zoo there are some animals that you never see because they are out of sight. 

So although the animal enclosures were a good size and clean, I think they are built so that they don't have many areas where the animals can hide out of view. Although this makes for a great visitor experience, it may not be so good for the animals. Otherwise though the enclosures were clean, and the animals appeared healthy.

You can find more information about the zoo on the Shanghai Zoo official website (the website can be translated to English!)