BEIJING (AFP) - A Chinese hotel built around a central polar bear enclosure for the non-stop viewing pleasure of its guests opened on Friday (March 12) to immediate condemnation from conservationists.

At Harbin Polar Land in north-eastern China, the hotel bedrooms' windows face the bears' pen, with visitors told that the animals are their "neighbours 24 hours a day".

A video shows the bears - a threatened species - being photographed by crowds of guests under harsh warm lights in a space consisting of fake rocks and icicles, and a white painted floor.

Animal rights organisations reacted with outrage, urging customers to stay away from establishments profiting "from animals' misery".

"Polar bears belong in the Arctic, not in zoos or glass boxes in aquariums - and certainly not in hotels," said Peta Asia's vice-president, Mr Jason Baker.

In the wild, polar bears usually roam territories that can span thousands of miles, Mr Baker added.

Harbin is famous for its ice-carving festival, and the hotel resembles a giant igloo, with its roof topped by artificial ice. But some Chinese social media users expressed unease at the theme being taken to this extreme.

"A panoramic prison for polar bears... Haven't we learnt anything about animal cruelty?" one commentator said.

"Gaps in China's wildlife protection law allow businesses to exploit animals without any concern for their welfare," a spokesman for China Animal Protection Network, who declined to be named, told AFP.

The Chinese authorities recently changed the law to ban the consumption of wildlife for food after speculation over the origins of the Covid-19 coronavirus nudged investigators towards a Wuhan market selling animals.

But the use of parts of endangered species in traditional medicine remains rampant, and Chinese circuses and zoos are often criticised for poor standards in animal housing and care.