Joy City is the mall that keeps on giving!

Recently I was talking about Joy City with a friend, and he mentioned he’d taken his son to an animal petting zoo there. I thought he had his malls mixed up until he said ‘It’s the mall with the Ferris Wheel on the side of it!’. Yes, that’s it, but in all my visits to Joy City, I’d never seen a petting zoo.

With only two weeks of school holidays remaining and needing to get out of the house, my daughter and I decided to find the animal petting zoo. The same friend had shown me a picture of a Llama roaming about, and if nothing else, the possible sighting of a Llama, in a mall, in Shanghai was well worth a trip.

We found the petting zoo on Level 8 of the North Building just as we stepped off the escalator. The entrance to the shop is around the corner to the right. After paying the entrance fee of 120 RMB, Liv and I were given wrist bands and asked to wash our hands and put on gloves before being handed a small basket of food for the animals.

Success!! We were hardly in the door before the baby Llama, (or is it an Alpaca?), approached us. He went for our basket of food, but I was quick and saved it. As the Llama moved on to steal someone else’s food, I felt something soft and fluffy on my foot. Looking down, I found an enormous Angora rabbit had decided to rest there.

A little further in the door were two cots, one was full of baby chicks, in the other we found three super cute baby piglets that squealed if you tried to pick them up. A baby goat trotted around the shop unhindered, much like the Llama, and didn’t seem to be bothered by people patting it.

The little bunnies roaming freely in one section of the shop had Olivia’s undivided attention. These adorable balls of fluff had to keep an eye out for the cheeky Llama. On more than one occasion, we witnessed the Llama casually walk passed, pick a bunny up with his teeth and then unceremoniously drop it on the floor a few steps away. It seemed to be a game he played often, and the bunnies appeared unfazed and just carried on as they were.

I can’t be sure, as I lost track of time, but I think we spent almost two hours in the petting zoo. We went from holding bunnies to feeding hamsters, marvelling at the Chinchillas, back to feeding the piglets, then on to the rabbits again. Liv found the guinea pigs and the kittens while I cradled an adorable baby hedgehog. We watched on as a lady held a yellow python, and before leaving, I even managed to coax Liv into holding a lizard, which she subsequently decided she wanted to keep. (Don’t worry Mum, we aren’t getting a lizard!!)

There were so many more animals to look at, but we had spent so much time there already. It was time to go.

I’m often worried about animals being handled roughly in this type of setting. However, staff are stationed throughout the shop and roam around to ensure customers handle the animals correctly. The only time we saw an animal mishandled, was when a little girl grabbed a bunny out of Liv’s arms and dropped it in a cage. The little girl’s grandfather gave her a stern talking to, and we didn’t see her do it again.

Almost all the animals in the petting zoo are the type of animals kept as domesticated pets, maybe not in Australia, but definitely in other parts of the world. I was shocked, however, to see a white fox in a cage. I didn’t see anyone remove it from the cage for people to pat, so I’m not sure if the fox is just there for show, or if foxes are also kept as domesticated pets somewhere in the world. For me, it just seemed out of place and sad to be keeping it in a cage.

I know this type of place is not for everyone, and I understand and respect your reasons for not liking petting zoos. As petting zoos go, this one seemed ok. The animals looked well kept and well-fed. For anyone whose kids love this sort of thing, I can recommend this petting zoo and Joy City as an option to escape the summer heat for a while.

If petting zoos aren’t your thing, there is still plenty to see and do at Joy City. Visit the Ramen Noodle Museum or take a ride on the Sky Ring Ferris Wheel. Read my earlier post about Joy City, The Ramen Noodle Museum & Sky Ring to find out more.

Shanghai Joy City
298 Xizang North Road
Jing’an, Shanghai
Open Everyday 10:00-22:00
Qufu Road Metro Stop (Line 8 & 12) is across the road.