Zoo Madrid Offers Special Program for Chinese New Year

(eap) Starting tomorrow, visitors to Zoo Aquarium Madrid will be able to immerse themselves more deeply in the distant People’s Republic of China over the next four weekends: In addition to the two giant pandas “Jin Xi” and “Zhu Yu”, who can be observed at Zoo Madrid as a species rarely found in European zoos, a special program developed in cooperation with the Confucius Institute Madrid and the Chinese Cultural Center will be offered on the occasion of the Chinese New Year, celebrated under the sign of the Fire Horse.

Der Große Panda Jin Xi lebt ebenfalls im Zoo Madrid. In der chinesischen Kultur gilt der bedrohte Große Panda als Symbol für Harmonie und Ausgeglichenheit. © Foto: Zoo Aquarium Madrid Visitors can look forward to workshops on traditional Chinese crafts and learning Chinese characters, as well as to a Chinese shadow theater (a special form of puppet theater) and tomorrow’s “Lion Dance”, which is ritually performed at every Chinese New Year celebration. There will also be a wish wall for personal New Year’s wishes, a special information station dedicated to the giant panda, and a photo exhibition featuring works that showcase the diversity of Asian fauna.

With this special program, the zoo – operated by the also Madrid-based Parques Reunidos Group – is creating an additional incentive to visit during the current winter season. That temporary events and special programs can contribute significantly to the operational success of a leisure destination is also demonstrated by our current park report, which will be published shortly in EAP issue 2/2026 (available from March 1). ■