The animal statues were a hit
China Diary: 2013
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Day 4: Monday, 27th May
We Are The Zoo
While Jetson had a sleep in, Rob headed out to get a selection of local breakfast food: dumplings, boiled eggs, and fried bread. The food is pretty cheap, so we like to buy and try a few things and there is no problem if we don't eat it.
We planned to go to the zoo yesterday, but we were advised that the metro would be too crowded on Sunday. We took the subway today, Monday, and it was not too crowded. The main problem was negotiating the stairs, of which there were many, and coming out the right exit when we got there, otherwise it was quite simple to use.
the hippo eating a bottle
We spent the whole day at the zoo. First stop was the pandas. It was good to see this China icon, but they were all sleeping and not that impressive. The brown and black bears were much more animated, maybe because they lived in a concrete enclosure and people threw them food. Another bear, the polar bear, was a highlight, we had a fantastic underwater view of it swimming right past us. Another highlight was the hippopotamus eating a water bottle and sneezing very loudly, what a noisy but impressive sight.
The zoo is set around some lakes and lovely landscaped gardens, and it was very pleasant strolling around. The kids had loads of fun climbing on all the animal statues. Jetson went from not wanting to go, to not wanting to go home. We saw less than half of what was there, but had a wonderful day exploring.
Yes, that's a kangaroo at the Beijing zoo
Again we were constantly stopped to have our photos taken, we felt like we were one of the exhibits at the zoo! It is tough being a celebrity, but Olive is getting rather comfortable with it all, smiling happily at the cameras.
We had noticed a lot of Chinese babies getting around with holes in their pants. They do not use many nappies here, as that is how the kids do their business, wherever they are (as we found out!). They probably think it strange that Jetson is still in nappies as they toilet train pretty young here.
We are staying in a great little courtyard hotel, in a hutong (traditional neighborhood). The young staff are very friendly, and with the central communal courtyard you get to meet the other guests from around the world. The only possible problem is the noise, which we are often responsible for.
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