Chimelong Crocodile Park 鳄鱼公园 – Guangzhou, China

 

        It is a normal thing to kiss a kid or your spouse, but I do not think people would normally want to kiss a crocodile, right? Have you ever seen someone putting his lips on the lips of a crocodile? If you want to see this scene, come to the Chimelong Crocodile Park. To reach the site, take subway and get off at Hanxi and Changlong Station, and then take exit E. After that, take a free shuttle bus operating every 30 minutes that will bring you to the park. 

        Summer is the best time to explore interesting places for you do not need to worry to get wet because of the rain or capture blurred pictures because of the thick cloud. In summer 2009, I went to Chimelong Park for a second time, but this time I went there with my mom and brother. We bought package tickets for the zoo and the crocodile park (croco park). After exploring the zoo, we went to the croco park. I thought  the park is located close to the zoo, but I just knew that we had to take another bus to reach there. We were waiting for almost half an hour to get in the bus. Many people were also waiting for it. When the bus came, it was soon filled with people. Many of them were standing because there was no enough seat. We were on the bus for almost half an hour before we reached the park. Thanked God, we did not walk there. The park is closed at 5 pm. By the time we reached there, it was already almost 3 pm. So we hastily took a look inside and explored the park.

        The park is named crocodile park because it is indeed a home to hundreds of wild crocodiles. Slightly different from the zoo that houses various kinds of animals, the Crocodile Park specializes in taking care of crocodiles. It preserves around 100,000 crocodiles, which makes up of nearly 70% of the total crocodile population in the country. The park is the largest crocodile-themed amusement park in the world that integrates crocodile preservation, science education program, ecological farm and animal shows. Here you can get acquainted with crocodiles and their life cycle. Located in Panyu district in an area of 73 hectares, the building of the park cost 300 million Yuan. It is the third theme park developed by the local private company, Guangzhou Changlong Group and was opened in 2004. The park is made up of 7 areas, including Area of Science and Knowledge, Central Interactive Area, Growth Demonstration Area, Amusement Area and Entertainment & Business Area.

 Me in front of the gate to the Crocopark. I was waiting for the bus here. 

 A special room to dissect the body of crocodiles. The crocodile skins are peeled off and made into genuine leather bags, wallets, belts, medicines, and many other leather  craft products.

 

 A very old big turtle

 Could you see a crocodile inside this glass room?

 Besides specializing in crocodiles preservation, the park also attracts the visitors through animals performance such as sea lion performance. The sea lions could showcase various attractive actions.

 Many crocodiles were put together in the same room.
 

 The vegetable tunnel creating a serene and peaceful atmosphere. You could also pick the fruit and eat it.

        The most exciting part of visiting the site was watching the crocodile performance guided by brave tamers from Thailand. As they entered the arena, the audience welcomed them with loud applause. Before they started the performance, they sticked their hands together and prayed. They might have used a certain magic to tame the crocodiles. Maybe…

 Don't miss a thrilling crocodile performance with tamers from Thailand.

 

 The male tamer was putting his hand into the crocodile’s mouth. How dare he was!!!

 This skillful Thailand female tamer was risking her life by putting her head inside the crocodile’s mouth. Don’t try this at home.. haha…

 

 The tamer in the middle was carrying the crocodile, while the other two were sitting on top of the beasts.

 King Crocodile, the biggest and fiercest crocodile of all. 

 

        It was already 5 pm and we were all rushing to the bus. The bus was almost full and finally we left the park heading back to the zoo, the previous pick-up point. Yes, that was the first time in my life I ever saw someone kissing a crocodile. I did not know how the tamers did that or with what magic they did that. But the performance was just outstanding and unique. So, if you happen to visit Guangzhou some time, I highly recommend you to visit this site as it offers various opportunities for you to get to know the real crocodiles’ world. However, do not ever think to raise a baby crocodile in your house … okay? hehe…

 

Sources:

Personal experience and additional information from other online articles