The Hangzhou Zoo

Though the kids had been to the Hangzhou Zoo before, I had not, so we went back there today to hang out under the high canopy of trees and look at the local captives.  Here are the Sophie, Jack and Peter near the entrance.

LEFT: This little girl stopped briefly to watch the foreigners go by.  Love the red parasol! RIGHT:  A little cave we went through in this very lush park.
    

Here's Jack, that handsome little devil.


We came across this nice little pagoda amongst all of the lush greenery.


Near the pagoda was a lone sole seal who was doing some tricks.  This is for my brother-in-law who wanted pictures of things being balanced on noses. Here you go Dan :).  The seal held this pose for quite a long while.  Amazingly strong!


Some beautiful giraffes here...


The zoo was a great place for Sophie to run, which is her favorite thing to do.  It's always fun to get her in a crowd because she darts all around us, and the other Chinese are wondering where her parents are.  Tee hee. 


Since the boys' previous school were the Abia Judd Jaguars, I had to get a picture of this lovely fellow, yawning in the heat.


Let's see, which animals shall we see next??


While at the zoo we saw this beautiful butterfly.  I could tell Sophie was thinking, "Hey, where can I get a set of wings?"


So many people were feeding the animals! The attitude towards animals in zoos appears to be COMPLETELY different here than in the west.  Some guy was tossing slices of bread to this bear - I think he tossed down a whole loaf of bread while we were there, much to the crowd's enjoyment.  There wasn't a zookeeper in sight.
   

Aah, chariot rides, pulled by a GOAT!  How could we resist!


Then we saw this little boy with a very distinctive haircut, paying homage to the upcoming 2008 Olympics.  The torch...


... and the year, 2008 emblazoned proudly upon his crown!  Jack immediately thought he would like to do something like this to his hair.  What a surprise!


After an enjoyable couple of hours, we walked through a little more bamboo forest as we exited the zoo, and grabbed a cab back to the city.


Here's a shot of the delicious milk-tea that can be found as frequently here as Starbuck's in Seattle.  It's a sweet tea with some kind of powdered milk added, and in the bottom are balls of tapioca which are sucked through a large diameter straw.  The straw pierces a piece of cellophane wrap that they heat seal onto the top while you wait, so that it's spill proof - very ingenious.  Cold or hot, milk-tea is strange but delicious!