News from China, Day 4 - Zoo

Today, we took Jaime on a trip to the Chongqing Zoo, famous for its pandas and tigers, which is right in the middle of the city. The entrance leads you onto a walkway which is lined with massive, leaning bamboo trees which create an archway through the zoo. The giant panda graciously roused herself from her nap, walked over to her bench and sat up for the photo-shoot.

After picking up some souvenirs, we took the bus to the Fine Arts gallery, which is attached to a massive amphitheatre, supposedly one of the top 3 most famous architectural sites in China. Paintings which were made by professors at the local Fine Arts University were on sale.

We headed back to the hotel, and David spent the rest of the day in bed, sick with traveller's diarrhea and stomach cramps. Fortunately, it passed fairly quickly, and he seems fairly normal today. His sleep was only interrupted by a strange yelling right outside his window ... who could be yelling outside the 30th floor of a downtown hotel which doesn't have any balconies ? A window cleaner suspended hundreds of feet in the air in a tarp, that's who. He was shouting directions to the guys on the roof, who were swinging him around.

Jaime is getting more and more comfortable. Lately, she's started crawling all around the hotel room - previously she stayed more or less in one spot, now she explores the whole room. And her voice ... she's found her voice. We guess she was still feeling a bit shy before, but not any more ... now she yells and shouts at the top of her lungs from excitement, with a huge grin on her face. She was very vocal at dinner, and entertained all the other guests. She also went for her first swim with Melissa and Emily in the hotel pool, and she loved it. She was kicking and splashing around in the water while Emily practised her underwater handstands.

Tomorrow we go on another bus ride, stay tuned !