China # 3 // lions, tigers, and (panda) bears. oh my!

This entry is specifically geared towards those who are less inclined at reading passages of text, ahem, jiyeh aka jane.

So one of the things that is so great about Beijing is that it is incredibly cheap. That being said, one ticket to the zoo cost 20 kuai, or, about $3. As a point of comparison, the standard ticket price at the Bronx Zoo is $15 -- and that they don't even have pandas.

There's about 30 people in the program here in Beijing. We're all really close, but here's a picture of the group I hang out with most. From L to R, it's a picture of us in the zoo: tommy, bryan, stine, me, esther, mackenzie. It goes without saying that Beijing is gorgeous.


But entering the zoo, we started to see why exactly the ticket was so cheap. Economically speaking, a cheap admission ticket translates to low overhead costs, which translates into not-so-great environments for the animals.

The lions, especially, had it rough. They were kept in these small cages, only a few feet across, resulting in these huge felines pacing the cage, around and around and around.


The tigers had it better, being in a semi-natural environment surrounded by a huge moat.


There were also leopards.

Elephants too!

The best part of the zoo though, were the PANDAS. I've never seen pandas in my life. They are often described as looking like people in panda suits. They are incredibly incredibly cute, but more incredibly lazy. When we were at the panda reserve, all the pandas were laying around, in a semi-conscious state of stupor. Once in a while, one would lift an arm and arouse great attention and excitement from on-lookers.

They like to sleep.

I especially enjoy the above picture. I like to think that the panda started to roll over, then got tired, and was like, "screw it. i'm sleepy," and fell asleep.

There's an unfortunate reason for their lethargic nature. For the past 50 years, the panda population has been rapidly declining. Because of their obscenely small number, their present population is the result of years of in-breeding: cousins with cousins, sisters with brothers. Ergo, they are presently some of the dumbest animals on Earth. Mother pandas have lost all instinctual knowledge on giving birth. When she gives birth, there must be handlers present to whisk the baby away, lest the unknowing, semi-retarded mother sees the object coming out of her as some sort of threat and injures it.

Nevertheless, they are THE cutest animals on earth. And though they may be lazy, they respond, like all animals on the face of this planet, to food. I was taking pictures of the sleeping pandas when a metal door opened. Out came a woman with a bucket, and like Pavlov's dogs, the pandas perked up and slowly charged towards the food.

They sat in a line, like they were in class, waiting for their handler to feed them.

They like to eat bamboo.

Note: some people asked for pictures of the party/clubbing scene here. I assure you, it goes well, and I have many stories. They'll be up later; if you really want them now, ask me online. I think I'm going to just make one entry dedicated solely to that.

Also on its way, stories/pictures of the Great Wall!

Also, I want to give an update on the censorship here. Youtube has stopped working entirely, but google images is now open. Uploading videos is still impossible. But I want to highlight Shawn's comment on China #2.

"china, like every country in the world, has more than its share of problems and too many things it wants to simply sweep under the rug. but at the same time, look at where this country was even just 20 years ago, it has come a long way. it has grown from a legit 3rd world country to one that will be hosting the olympics and one of the superpowers of the world. perhaps i'm being naive, or that i'm biased because of my ties to my motherland, but i believe that things will keep getting better in the future. as a nation becomes a greater power, it becomes more visible on the world stage, and things such as political repression and other unfortunate things that would gone unnoticed years ago will not anymore."

And he's totally right. While China does have many problems, it has come an incredibly long way. Running a country of 1.3 billion people is not an easy feat. Each great empire has its fair share of mistakes, miscalculations, and misplaced judgment. China is no different; America is no different. It's part of the evolutionary process that so defines society: we learn from mistakes and move on; and we are better for it. I am proud of how far China has come, and I hope, I sincerely hope that they continue to progress in the right direction economically and politically.

Though I was born in America, hold an American passport, and by all means am extremely proud of my country and what it stands for, I am Chinese by blood. China, this magnanimous, mysterious, brooding country is the land of my ancestors. The Chinese culture and its history is incredibly beautiful and complex and awe-inspiring. But that topic deserves a blog all for itself.