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They're coming from the North Pole, and it has nothing to do with Christmas or who's been naughty and nice.

 

With six months of construction completed, the polar aquarium is ready to open next Thursday at Nanjing Underwater World, giving visitors a chance to meet new animal friends.

 

Most of the new residents are from the northern polar region polar bears, northern sea lions, northern fur seals, Arctic reindeer, Arctic foxes, Arctic hares and ferrets. But there will also be southern sea lions and emperor penguins from the frigid south, as well.

 

"We have built the polar aquarium to add variety to the existing sea aquarium and dolphin aquarium, which will assist in popular science education for school kids and provide more fun for visitors," said a manager of Nanjing Underwater World, who declined to give his name.

 

Since the attraction opened in 2000, it has received tens of thousands of visitors each year, many of them are groups of eager elementary and middle school students.

 

It is now one of the three most popular science education sites in China.

 

Nanjing Underwater World began building the 80 million yuan (US$10.3 million) polar aquarium in June.

 

When asked about the price tag, the manager explained that creating the right environment for the animals is costly because it must be the same in detail as that in the extreme latitudes.

 

"To make Nanjing seem like the North Pole, both in temperature and environment, we need high technology to install facilities such as a water circulation system, a temperature control system and a ventilation system," said the manager.

 

The color scheme is easy enough. To be authentic, there are only two white and blue.

 

And the animals themselves aren't cheap, either. Most of them were imported from Russia, with some from South America, and others are being brought in on short-term loan from other polar aquariums in the country.

 

"I am very glad we'll finally have a polar bear in our aquarium because I've never personally seen a polar bear," said Zhen Yurong, Nanjing Underwater World's polar bear keeper.

 

He added that although they weigh 500 kilograms, polar bears are such lovely animals that all the keepers wanted to care for the new resident.

 

Zhen knew he would have to work long hours at the outset to cater to the bear's needs and to get to know its temperament as quickly as possible.

 

At 1.2 meters tall, the emperor penguins of Antarctica aren't as big as polar bears, but those at Nanjing Underworld World will be special in their own way.

 

"We are extremely happy and proud," said Wu Xuandong, another keeper, "because we will have all six of the emperor penguins in China here."

 

In a country where emperors ruled for centuries, that's a status close to royal.

 

(China Daily January 26, 2007)