Zoo Day!

One of our favorite outings in Chongqing was the zoo.  The CQ Zoo has nice habitats, gorgeous landscaping and pathways, and....pandas!!!  CQ is known for its pandas.  If I am remembering correctly, they have the highest concentration of pandas!  It was amazing.  We saw pandas climbing a tree, eating bamboo, sleeping...so much fun.  The tigers were my other favorite exhibit- they had a different look to them than the tigers I've seen elsewhere, and we saw one seriously stalking a hapless bird (well, not so hapless since it never got close enough to pounce!).  The pelicans were different, too, very pretty.  Vivienne adored the zoo.  It was (you guessed it) hot and steamy, and the kids tired out before we officially saw it all, but everyone had a great time.  Maybe because we were all there with our kids/ grandkids, but the other people at the zoo were very friendly and sweet...there are not a lot of Westerners in CQ, especially in our shoes, so we had been used to lots of stares (which are not impolite in the culture, and honestly I think I just got used to it), but if we met someone's eyes at the zoo, it seemed like they came up and chatted with us...so nice.

Before we went, we stopped where the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers meet.  This junction is where you can stand and see each of the rivers, with their own colors, blend....if it isn't super smoggy!  CQ is basically in a valley surrounded by gorgeous green mountains, and there are some specific things that happen with the weather patterns, so fog/smog/condensation get trapped.  But it was still beautiful.

Here we are at the zoo!

By now, we knew Vivienne likes watermelon, cantaloupe, bath time, brightly colored toys, clothes that are bright yellow/white/soft pink, her white shoes WITH ruffly socks (you'll see those in almost every photo)...and mama.  Mama had acquired a constant companion for all waking minutes....she had figured out who mama was and she was NOT letting her out of sight!  Michael's patience, wisdom, and pretty much constant running-and-doing during were incredible!!!