The Hong Kong Zoo or Zoological and Botanical Gardens is located on the Upper Albert Road, Central are spread on the slope of Victoria Peak. The Hong Kong Zoo is a popular respite for Hong Kong residents.
Come here early, around 7am, and you'll see Chinese residents going through the slow motions of tai chi, a disciplined physical routine of more than 200 individual movements, designed to exercise every muscle of the body and bring a sense of peace and balance to its practitioners.
In the Hong Kong Zoo gardens themselves, which retain some of their Victorian charm, flowers are almost always in bloom, from azaleas in the spring to wisteria and bauhinia in the summer and fall.
More than 1,000 species of plants, most of them indigenous to tropical and subtropical regions and planted throughout the Hong Kong Zoo grounds, include Burmese rosewood trees, varieties of bamboo, Indian rubber trees, camphor trees, a variety of camellia, herbs, and the Hong Kong orchid.
The small Hong Kong Zoo houses 600 birds, 90 mammals, and 20 reptiles, including jaguars, orangutans, tamarins, kangaroos, flamingos, a Burmese python, Palawan peacocks, birds of paradise from Papua New Guinea, cranes, and Mandarin ducks.
Hong Kong Zoo is well known for its success in breeding birds on the verge of extinction and for supplying zoos around the world with new stock.
If you're tired of Central and its traffic, Hong Kong Zoo is a pleasant place to regain your perspective.
There's also a children's playground.
Admission is free.
The eastern part of Hong Kong Zoo, containing most of the botanical gardens and the aviaries, is open daily from 6am to 10pm, while the western half, with its reptiles and mammals, is open daily from 6am to 7pm.
To reach it, take the MTR to Central and then walk 15 minutes up Garden Road to the corner of Upper Albert Road. Or take bus no. 3B or 12 from the Jardine House on Connaught Road Central.
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