The Beijing Zoo

OH MY! What to say about the Beijing zoo?! I had read online some negative things about the zoo... Unfortunately a lot of it is true. The facility is fine, but the conditions the animals live in are substandard. Most of them are in cells with bars & cement floors. The pandas, being the main attraction, have a great habitat though.

The bears..... oh the bears... we'll get to that.

It was feeding time for the pandas! They were chowing down on those bamboo trees!

Boyd, Jr. & Boyd, Sr.

OKAY... the BEARS.

It was UNBELIEVABLE! The signs say DO NOT FEED THE BEARS.

We got there & those people on the left were doing just that! Feeding the Bears!!!!They were dropping juice down into their mouths... then they would tell the bears to turn around by waving their hands in a circle. The bears were dancing for the food!

The bears would turn around in a circle to get more juice. CRAZY! No one from the zoo was doing anything about it either!

We couldn't believe it!

This says big cats or something like that.

Amazing rock sculpture outside of the big cat exhibit.

We were able to get amazingly close to the animals. These big guys were in really small, nasty cells. The paint was peeling and rusty. They didn't seem too happy.

This guy had a cold. He kept hacking. :-(

We got to pet the zebras. Here is Birdie petting one. They come right up to the fence. Some tourist were feeding them a little too. I love zebras. They have to be my favorite animal. I know you care. Just putting that out there.

PSA: (Public Service Announcement) : The following piece of info about China is unrelated to the zoo.

Children of potty-training age, do not wear training pants or diapers or pull ups... They wear pants with slits in all the right places- or wrong if you ask me. They simply sit down or squat down where ever they are and GO! We had the privilege of witnessing this on several occasions on our trip. So watch out for small piles on the sidewalk if you ever get to go to China. And any wet spots, might be something unexpected too!!! This little guy was on his dad's shoulders looking at the monkeys. He accidentally got in my picture. Okay, not really, but I couldn't resist. I edited out his...crack though. All I have to say ...

THIS IS ONE BRAVE DAD!