When Wang Lisha, 33, watched a documentary earlier this year, she did not expect it to lead her on a journey to Nanjing, Jiangsu province.
The film follows four gorillas that arrived in China from Burgers' Zoo in Arnhem, the Netherlands, in February 2025, and settled into a carefully designed new home at Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo. Months later, they were introduced to the public after a long period of adaptation — no longer newcomers, but residents of a habitat shaped by a decadelong cross-continental cooperation in animal welfare and conservation.
The documentary also rewinds to a 2015 seminar in Nanjing, where a European conservation expert described gorillas as guardians of Africa's "second lung", warning that their fate is inseparable from humanity's own. That idea took root among staff at the forest zoo, eventually evolving into a bold ambition — to re-create an African rainforest habitat in the heart of an ancient Chinese city.
"As a mother with a three-year-old daughter, the film became more about something intimate — the idea that lives so distant could be carefully carried across oceans and still feel at home," Wang recalled.
Another moment stayed with her. "One staff member at the zoo said, 'We cannot force them to obey. We can only understand them, and work with them'," she added.
In late May, Wang traveled from Tianjin to visit the Hongshan zoo with her daughter. Standing before the gorilla enclosure, she recalled the film's images of rainforest canopies and long journeys across continents. "My child is still very small," she said. "But I want her to know that the world is bigger than what she sees every day — and that we share it with other lives."
Drawing more than six million visitors annually, Hongshan zoo is among China's most-visited such facilities, and it is home to around 3,000 animals representing around 260 species. It is known for its emphasis on animal welfare, wildlife rescue and conservation research, guided by a principle of "equality of life" between humans and animals.
Shen Zhijun, the zoo's director, said its purpose goes far beyond display. Having worked there for nearly two decades, he has overseen major changes aimed at transforming the zoo into a genuine habitat rather than a showcase, removing animal performances and paid feeding, and redesigning enclosures to better reflect natural environments.
"Our main objective has always been to bridge the gap between the conservation of nature and the daily lives of people," Shen said. "By doing so, we hope to raise awareness about wildlife protection, showing visitors that protecting wild animals and their habitats is something they can relate to in their everyday lives."
He added that emotional connection is central to the zoo's appeal. "When parents bring children to see koalas, they love watching them holding their joeys," he said. "Visitors often stay very quiet and watch for a long time. We try to enrich the animals' environment so they behave naturally. As a result, they are comfortable and expressive, and visitors can feel that."
The zoo's growing cultural reach has also extended online with many visitors sharing their trips to the zoo on social media.
Japanese-American singer Mika Hashizume, known for his appearance on Chinese survival reality show Produce Camp 2021, visited the zoo in August 2025 and shared his experience on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote.
"It was raining and I didn't expect so many people at the zoo," he said in his post.
The singer was originally drawn by a bunch of white-faced sakis (Pithecia pithecia), a simian species native to South America, which are among Hongshan zoo's most popular residents.
One of these monkeys, nicknamed Dudu, has become an unlikely internet celebrity. Known for his calm temperament, he is often seen letting his "wife", nicknamed Huahua, eat first while he also grooms her fur from time to time — behaviors that have earned him the affectionate label of a "devoted husband" online.
The zoo has since turned Dudu into its popular IP, producing plush toys, keychains, fridge magnets and even coffee packets and transit cards featuring his image. Merchandise frequently sells out soon after its release, with fans rushing to secure their zoo souvenirs.
"Today, I saw so many animals — elephants, tigers and meerkats," one visitor said. "I haven't been to any zoo in a long time, and this was really fun. It made me feel like a child again."
