Tuesday, We Went to the Zoo

Tuesday, we woke up and looked out our window at the Exhibition Hall to see a ceremonial dance going on to start the conference for calendars and cultural gifts expo across the street.
We ate breakfast and headed out to the zoo at 9:30. This is a small part of the city skyline. We take taxis wherever we need to go and they usually cost 18-25 Chinese Yuan which is about $2-$3 US dollars. The good thing is that you are charged by distance and not time because with the traffic here, sometime it takes awhile to get anywhere.Apartment buildings are everywhere!In the taxi.
Aren't those the coolest glasses ever? It's fun to buy things in China for less than a buck that provide great entertainment value.
We know that Joshua is pretty good at self-limiting because he willingly sits in the stroller. We lift him in and out and try to not let him walk too much to preserve his energy. It is very hot and humid here feeling like the 90's.
The young monkeys put on a show for us.
Joshua has never been to a zoo before but according to our guide he knew what most of the animals were by name. Clearly he has had a decent education.The bears know how to cool off. This one was swimming all around for us.Quite large.
We were walking up a pathway and a bunch of people were looking through a fence. I wondered what it was, and lo and behold it was another kind of zoo. For an extra fee you could pay for the kids to play in a wading pool. Some clothed, some half naked, some all naked. Many grandparents who are forced to retire at 55 watch over their grandchildren. It is tradition and expected according to our guide.
Tigers and lions and ligers as we saw below.
I was looking at these elephants and wondered why they looked different than I have seen before, having been to many a zoo and circus. Homeschooling rocks when I remembered that there are African Elephants and Asian Elephants. These guys/girls were BIG.Oh the joy of firsts. For 10 Yuan, about $1.50, Joshua got to feed the giraffes.
My heart was aching with the joy of new experiences.
Hey kids, remember the black tongue?
Who's hungry?The nice thing about this zoo is that all the animals were somewhat accessible. By that I mean we were not behind three walls to look at them. A little more up close and personal.
Sally, the camel, has two humps....
Many types of deer/antelope were represented.
Our peek at one of the pandas.
Living fossil?King of the beasts.The zoo was great. Although the habitats were not very natural (a lot of concrete), the animals all looked well cared for and healthy.

The heat got to me at the zoo and I wasn't feeling well so we headed back to the hotel for a nap.

Joshua played with his play dough. Several days later we showed the picture to our guide and she said that he had made the characters for Mamma and Babba. Doesn't that make you want to cry?
More views from our hotel window on the 16th floor.
Joshua takes pictures of us enjoying our Pringles.
Another great day enjoying China and getting to know our new son.

Tomorrow is SHOPPING!