Xiamen Underwater World has an area of 17.5 hectares and the total area of 7500 square meters. It is co-built by the Singapore Chinese and the construction and developing cooperation of Gulangyu with a investment of 10 million dollars. The aquarium, penguins and fish Pavilion was built in the first phase of the project of this sea-blue Crystal Palace building. Outside the entrance there is a huge sculpture of an octopus of 6 meters height and 11.2 meters span. It is the symbolic statue of Xiamen Underwater world, thus attracts many tourists taking pictures with it.

Xiamen Underwater World is divided into several secondary zones including Ocean Zone, Penguin & Fresh-water Fish Zone, Sperm Whale Specimen Zone, and Dolphin Zone. The Ocean Zone is the home for special creatures living in the tropics or the semi-tropics. There are giant sharks, giant grouper fish, beautiful coral reef fishes, hippocampus, syngnathus, and man-eating crabs, etc. The Penguin & Fresh-water Fish Zone displays fresh-water fishes, such as sturgeons, and two kinds of penguins: Spheniscus humboldti and Sphenisus demersus. The Sperm Whale Specimen Zone displays the specimen of a dead sperm. In the zone, you can watch the videos and pictures about the making process of the specimen and the detailed information of sperms. The Dolphin Zone consists of Watching Pool, Performing Pool, Resting Pool and Dolphin's Living Area. It has watching windows, though which you can watch the dolphins closely.