Polar Horizon
The next area in the park is Polar Horizon, home to everything polar! The first attraction we visited was the Beluga whale exhibit, located close to the whale shark aquarium. 
This beautifully detailed and large exhibit is home to several gorgeous belugas and features several large viewing windows.
Of course it’s conveniently located close to the beluga show, and it’s very nice and cold inside. Make sure to actually check out the exhibit and not just the show!
Next up we entered the large state-of-the-art theater for one of the most impressive shows we’ve seen. 
Six belugas and their trainers gave us a warm welcome. The show had started with an educational pre-show, but was then followed by a more visually stunning demonstration.
Beluga shows are much rarer than your usual bottle-nose dolphin shows, making the experience that much more valuable.
The show was well-paced, well-balanced, and did not feel overly theatrical. It was mostly great interactions between trainers and belugas.
My favorite scene must have been when the ceiling turned out to have snoap machines and the snow dwindling into the crowd was accompanied by the beautiful behavior in the water.
One big snowflake <3
Of course that was not the end of the show, there were still quite a few other behaviors presented to the crowd.
The six beluga performance was great!
One final beluga goodbye before we head over to our next coaster!
Our next coaster is Polar Explorer, the park’s Mack Rides Water Coaster. In true Chimelong Ocean Kingdom fashion, the ride is absolutely spectacular and actually drifts through a large bear exhibit!
The vast majority of the ride takes place behind the giant mountain, which makes for a pleasant surprise. The coaster is fascinatingly smooth and very pleasant on the eyes as well of course.
The second half of the ride is a little more noticeable from the midway but is still spectacular of course.
Polar Explorer is our favorite water coaster of its kind by a significant margin. Not only is the ride itself great with the bear exhibit integration, theming, and music, but the queue for the coaster is gorgeous as well. 
There were two exhibits in the park that felt a little less polished than everything else. That was the penguin exhibit and the polar bear exhibit. Both felt as if they were one of the first things constructed and clear indicates that the park immediately searched for higher quality.
The penguins seem well taken care of, and the exhibit is giant, it’s just rough around the edges. 
The under water tunnel was a neat part of the experience!
The area is also home to a giant tea-cup-style flat ride that actually has elevated moments on the ride, and is themed to the polar horizon of course. The Nordic themed ride is appropriately named Polar-go-round.
The next exhibit was the polar bear exhibit. Though nicer than the penguin exhibit, it still felt a little bare.
Lots of space for the polar bears luckily.
The arctic wolves and arctic foxes in the exhibit were incredibly cute.
Hero Island
Next up: Hero Island, a combination of several themes and expansions. The entry to Hero Island is located right next to the Octopus Carousel on the park’s lagoon.
Hero Island was previously named Tiger Island is themed to the Chimelong characters, which are tigers that can be found at Chimelong Paradise as well.
The entry way/ main street of Hero Island is filled with small shops and restaurants, as well as animatronic characters that interact with the crowds.
I then realized that lady raccoon had been bad and was jailed up. Crying out for help, I pointed at her and we continued on.
It wouldn’t be Asia without some sort of obscure entertainment. We had no clue what was going on, but dancers and actors took stage in the middle of Hero Island. 
It was quite the production with all the Chimelong characters present. Little did we know this cute night time entertainment was nothing compared to what was yet to come. 
A new expansion of Hero Island blends in with Mt. Walrus and is a bird themed expansion. Hero Island connects Hengqin Ocean, Mt. Walrus, and the Polar Horizon. The new expansion features beautiful new animal exhibits.
TURTLES!
These capybaras call the new area their home as well!
Fun Fact: These are the largest living rodent in the world!
Much of the area actually focused on gorgeous bird exhibits.
Like everything else at the park, this was absolutely gorgeous as well.
Chimelong Ocean Kingdom did a great job separating all exhibits, yet making the whole experience very cohesive.
To our surprise, the middle of the expansion was a gorgeous garden where parents and their children could garden together.
It was actually very popular. – The last thing I expected this mega spectacular park to offer was this. But I am 100% here for it!
Just focus on this coaster in the background… not whatever these tortoises are up to…
Let’s go find the new-for-2018 Jungle Coaster!
Found it! The adorable, very well-themed, family coaster has fog effects, a story, a themed queue and a whole animation explaining the adventure you’re about to go on!
As you leave the area and make your way back to Polar Horizon, the-new-for 2018 Penguin Coaster greets you! Both coasters are great fits and really bridge the kiddie rides and the park’s larger thrill attractions.
Continue on page 4 for the park’s best-themed area, as well as the best night-time spectacular imaginable!