To welcome the coming Spring Festival on Feb. 19, Beijing Aquarium launched an early event, a show where divers perform the dragon dance underwater, with "dragons" made from environment-friendly materials.
One of China's ancient traditions, the dragon dance is performed as an offering at the approach of the spring rainfall and to drive away ghosts.
During the holiday festivals, visitors of the Beijing Aquarium will be awed by numerous shows that include performances by marine animals such as dolphins, sea lions and white whales, among others.
The aquarium will be closed on the eve of the Spring Festival, but will continue the shows from Feb. 19 to March 5, the day of China's Lantern Festival, to which visitors will be gifted with an amazing visual delight brought upon by the underwater lantern palace.
The Beijing Aquarium covers a total area of 120,000 square meters and is considered the largest and most advanced aquarium in all of Asia. Its use of blue and orange motiff in the premises not only gives visitors an illusion of being underwater, but also symbolizes the vitality of Chinese marine biology.
The aquarium breeds more than 1,000 marine species from both salt and freshwater habitats.
The aquarium ecology is divided into seven parts called Rainforest Adventure, Wonder of Coral Reefs, Rare Chinese Sturgeon Hall, Touch Pool, Shark Harbor and Whales, Globefish Hall and the Marine Theater, where marine animals perform tricks to the delight of the visitors.
The superior animal performance constantly draws large crowds of delighted spectators. The Marine Theater has a capacity for 3,000 viewers and offers the Hawaii scenery as its background.