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Fran Lu

A six-year-old boy who is besotted with fish wrote to an ocean aquarium after noticing some sea life had disappeared, and surprisingly received a well-illustrated handwritten letter back and an invitation.
Tao Tianxing has been a huge fan of the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium since the age of two.
He does not know many Chinese characters, but already knows more than 800 species of fish and has drawn tens of thousands of sea life in his sketchbook.

In January, he noticed that several fish had gone missing from the aquarium. His mother, surnamed Xu, said he was deeply bothered by it.
She suggested that he write a letter to the aquarium.
The parents wrote down his questions, which were illustrated with Tao’s drawings of the fish.
To the family’s surprise, in February, they received a letter back from the institution.

It was a carefully handwritten missive, illustrated with drawings and photos of the fish that Tao cared about.
Written in the tone of the aquarium’s mascot, Sea Horse Didi, the letter answered each question Tao asked.
For example, the letter explained that the payara was still in the South American zone, but they have grown bigger and swim more freely, so it requires more time to find them.
The clown knifefish has disappeared because it was sent to live in a larger tank in Xiamen Undersea World in southeastern China’s Fujian province.

Instead, the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium introduced arowana and Asian arowana into the clown knifefish’s old home.
Tao also asked why he did not see the publicised snake eel.
Didi answered that the eel used to hide in the reef and was difficult to spot. Also, it had been bullied by other fish and had been removed for its own safety. However, once it was do badly hurt that it died.
Xu posted the letter online. She said it also came with a gift. Her boy was so happy about the letter that he immediately asked her to read it to him three times.
He also asked her to read the letter every evening before going to sleep.
Xu said she was deeply moved by the letter and was thankful to the aquarium for cherishing her son’s hobby.
She said they were happy to live in a city as warm as Shanghai.
It turned out the letter was written by a member of the public education staff, Zhu Runyu.

Zhu said she was impressed by Tao’s knowledge of fish and how observant he was. She said both his drawings and descriptions of the fish were accurate.
The aquarium also arranged a meeting between Tao and Zhu in July, so that Zhu could answer more questions in person.
The heartwarming story has won widespread applause online.
“Such a good boy full of curiosity and dedication to his hobby. Such a pair of good parents that respect their son’s hobby. And such a good aquarium that treats a child’s letter seriously,” one commented.
“He has been visiting the aquarium since two. Those fish are truly his friends,” another said.


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China boy writes to marine park about missing fish, receives personal reply, invitation

A fish-mad six-year-old boy from Shanghai who wrote to an aquarium park after he noticed some sea life was missing has won many hearts online.Photo: SCMP composite/gmw.cn/QQ.com/RedNote

Tao Tianxing just loves everything about fish, so much so that he noticed some species were missing when he visited his favourite aquarium recently. Photo: handout

The six-year-old also enjoys drawing sketches of his favourite underwater creatures. Photo: handout

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Sea-life mad youngster, 6, can name more than 800 species of fish and is able to sketch lifelike drawings of underwater creatures


Sea-life mad youngster, 6, can name more than 800 species of fish and is able to sketch lifelike drawings of underwater creatures.


Children in China

Animals

China boy writes to marine park about missing fish, receives personal reply, invitation

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Sea-life mad youngster, 6, can name more than 800 species of fish and is able to sketch lifelike drawings of underwater creatures

Sea-life mad youngster, 6, can name more than 800 species of fish and is able to sketch lifelike drawings of underwater creatures