On Thursday, August 23rd we made our trek to the Beijing Zoo and Aquarium -- and what fun it was!  We took the subway to the station nearest the zoo, according to the map, but then had quite a time finding the place.  We would stop and ask for the entry to the zoo and people kept sending us in different directions!  Very frustrating.  Then, when we thought we were getting close, we asked a bicycle/rickshaw driver if he knew where the gate was (by pointing to the zoo on the map) and he kept giving us lots of hand movements indicating, we thought, that it was still a bit of a walk.  So, we asked if he could take us in his bicycle powered rickshaw.   Of course, he said yes -- for 5 kuai (about 75 cents), so we agreed and jumped aboard.  Well, to our suprise, the guy pedaled around the corner right to the gate, a total of about 50 feet!!  How ridiculous!  But, we paid the guy his 5 kuai, who had his hand out thinking he had found a couple of suckers and we were off to the next adventure -- buying tickets to get into the zoo.  The Chinese, of course, do not stand in orderly lines.  Instead, they all squash themselves outside the ticket booth elbowing each other to make their way to the front -- and then their way back out.  What an annoying thing to have to endure, but we joined the throngs of pushing people and finally made our way to the front, being jostled all the while trying to buy our tickets -- then pushing and elbowing our way back out while I am screaming at these people (in English of course, so they couldn't understand me) to get off of me and my daughter!  I think they were quite puzzled by us, but were much more interested in carrying on with their pushing and elbowing their way to the front.  This goes on everywhere where there should be a nice, orderly line, by the way.   This will be quite a shock to those who come to Beijing for the Olympics next year!  I think the government is trying to encourage change in advance of the Olympics, however, as you can see many commercials on TV that specifically show people being nice and polite and being helpful and patient when waiting in lines.  Ha!  We'll see if it works!

Anyway, once we had procured our tickets, we made a bee-line for the panda house, where, of course, we had to buy ANOTHER ticket just to see the pandas!  And yes, there was another madhouse at the ticket booth.  So, we managed one more time (using more of our elbows this time around) and finally got to make our ways to the pandas -- which were absolutely delightful!  We saw about 5 pandas in separate areas.  A couple were outside and 3 or so were in various cages looking a bit woeful.  But, all in all, they were a very nice sight!

We then started making our way to the aquarium as Hannah was far more interested in it than seeing other zoo animals.  We did see some tigers along the way, as well as a group of Buddhist monks (who were, very interestingly, banging on the bars of the wolf cages trying to get their attention, which was not exactly what I would have expected of a Buddhist monk!), but eventually made it to the rather new aquarium building, which was HUGE!  I didn't know what to expect of an aquarium in China, but it sure wasn't this.  Next to the Shed Aquarium in Chicago, this was definitely one of the best I have seen!  They have a very nice Rainforest exhibit and an excellent seal/sealion and dolphin show!  All of the ocean and fresh-water fish exhibits were really very interesting and we enjoyed the views immensely.  You can see the slideshows (below) for photos taken at both the aquarium and the zoo.  And as always, Hannah had her fans too, being asked once again for a few photos here and there.  She said she felt like just another attraction at the zoo, and I told her that's what she gets for acting like a monkey! 

After a long rest sitting beside a beautiful lake at the zoo and watching swans, pelicans, ducks, other birds, and all the interesting Chinese people, we made our way back to the very crowded subway where the doors nearly closed on Hannah as we were making our way onto the train (my worst nightmare is being separated from Hannah at the subway station -- where one of us makes it onto the train and the other doesn't!!).  We then made another stop at WalMart for more DVDs (8 for $25!!!), another stop at the bakery for breakfast food, and then the stop at home for a good night's sleep.  We had quite the day -- and we hope you did too!

Until next time, zai jian!