The port city of Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning Province now has 70 penguins, the largest number of this polar mammal ever introduced into China.
Fortunately, the penguins arrived in Dalian from the remote south-polar region as the freezing weather in Dalian gives them a chance to adapt well to their new home.
Among the 70 new arrivals are four species of penguin.
The king penguin is the biggest with an average height of nearly one meter. With a snow-white chest and bright black back, the king penguin looks as if it is wearing evening dress. It waddles at a moderate speed, and is known as the "Gentleman of the Antarctica."
There are also more than 30 comparatively small black-foot penguins.
Penguins, living in the islands within the semi-Antarctic Circle, mainly feed on cuttlefish and small fish.
In the past Dalian also introduced white whales from the north polar areas.
(eastday.com January 29, 2002)