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Me holding the water cube
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Today was another fun day of walking walking and walking! All the places we saw today were out of the CBD, so it was a bit of a trek to get there.
We started off at Beijing Zoo. I wanted to go to see the giant pandas and Lee wanted to see the aquarium. To be honest with you, I was really disappointed with the zoo in general. We only paid 40 yuan to get in and I can see why. Most of the animals cages were old and run down, the windows weren't cleaned so you couldn't really see through the windows and it looked like the animals were't looked after properly. I don't know, I guess you have to see it in person. It was really sad! I was excited to see the giant pandas and let me tell you, there weren't any. You would think that there would be a whole heap of pandas but there were only 3 and none of them were giant! You also had to pay 5 yuan to get in and see them. It was sad just because it looked like they weren't looked after properly.
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| This panda didn't look like a giant panda! |
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| Look at it's dirty bumbum! |
We had to pay again to get into the aquarium which was 120 yuan. A lot more expensive than the actual zoo but it was well worth it. All the tanks were clean as and immaculate. There were a lot of species that I haven't seen before, which made it even more exciting! Lee loved it because he's a lover of fish so even he said that it was the best aquarium he has seen so far!
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| A beluga whale playing with a volleyball! |
We kind of went overtime at the zoo so we were running late to get to Summer Palace which was about 20 mins from the zoo via the subway. Summer Palace is another ancient and historical royal garden. That place was huge and we certainly didn't have enough time to roam the entire place! We even got lost in there that's how big it was! It was beautiful and serene. The lake was beautiful, and there were old structures to compliment it's beauty. A worthwhile visit if you come to Beijing!
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| Me at the entrance of Summer Palace |
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| The amazing architecture |
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| Look at their rooftops! |
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| The sun setting over the lake at Summer Palace |
Our next stop was the venue of the 2008 Beijing Olympic venues. I wanted to see the place at night, when it was all lit up. Unfortunately we got stuck in the subway peak our madness and it was horrible! The pushing and shoving was at it's peak and I wished that we caught a cab there from Summer Palace instead but I guess it's all part of the experience! The area was beautiful. Finally seeing it in the flesh was amazing. You don't realise how big the birds nest and cube are until you are actually in front of it! As it was a touristy area, there were hawkers everywhere and this is the most that I have seen. Vendors selling panda hats and beanies, people selling photos in front of the attractions and even vendors selling kites and toy helicopters. I finally figured out how to keep them away from us so everytime one of them walked near us, I started dancing like and idiot and they backed off! If you're ever there, try it! It's a natural repellent to keep the hawkers away! Besides the hawkers, the Olympic area is definitely a must do!
Another busy day and another day of sore legs. Totally worth it!
-V
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| The birds nest stadium |
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| The water cube and the birds nest |
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