Return to the Zoo

Lynn, Xiaowen and Nianzi and the Zoo Crowds
We went with Xiaowen and Nianzi Zheng to the Beijing Zoo and Ocean Park. Since it is still the holiday week both were very crowded - there are alot of people in China! The aquarium is spectacular, but it was often hard to get to see the displays. In addition to the tanks of fish, there was a seal and dolphin show in a completely packed auditorium, with people standing three deep at the railings. The show was good, although I think they could learn something about the pacing from Sea World!

In the zoo it was easier to watch the people than the animals!


Lunch on the Lawn


Blowing Bubbles in the Park
A canal runs through the zoo, and a seemingly popular activity is to take a ride on a speed boat which zooms up the canal making a large wash. This atracts a large crowd of watchers too.


Speed Boat Ride

Watching the Tiger
Which brings me to the animals. I must admit I was less impressed with the zoo than on the last visit - maybe we saw more of the older exhibits today. The white tiger was sitting looking forlorn in a field of garbage tossed into the cage, and was eating a plastic bag as we watched. The lion too was lying in a sea of litter. The zoo must have taken in $1,000,000 in entrance fees today, but had no supervision of the large crowds at the cages.


Forlorn Tiger


Lion Litter
We had fun feeding the elephants. For 5 yuan we got a few sticks of bamboo, which the elephants seemed to like, carefully moving from one outstretched hand to the next. The people seemed happy too.






Feeding the Elephants


Sand Bath