the Nanchang Zoo

4 years ago our travel group visited the Nanchang Zoo. We had been cooped up at the Lakeside hotel for 5 days. Our children were too young for the bowling alley. The playroom was woefully understocked with toys and the outside play equipment was sparse, rusted and hot to touch. It was so hot outside that we could only walk in the park in the morning. We were going stir crazy when another travel group mentioned visiting the zoo. We made plans to go the next morning. We had a wonderful day. Yes, the zoo was old and the cages were small. We recognized that it was not an ideal environment, but it was a fun day. We were able to feed the elephants and the ostriches. It was the first normal parent-child thing that we did with our new daughter.

When we planned our trip for this year I insisted that we take the kids to the zoo. I had told them about it so many times. They were excited. Bill and I were excited. Then we arrived at the zoo. Feeding the big animals was no longer an option. We could have feed the rabbits and other small animals, but we can do that at home. There were a number of animals missing - the giraffe had died, there were only two elephants left. The panda exhibit had been closed during our last visit but was open today. Unfortunately this was probably the most heartbreaking animal exhibit I have ever seen in my life. The one panda was in a glass enclosed cage on a tile floor with a wooden pallet in the middle. The panda was dirty, his eyes looked cateracted. We went to the big cat show. In the US most animal shows involved a lot of postive reinforcement. This show involved fear and intimidation. The tigers looked like they wanted to kill their handlers. And how could they not when whips were being cracked at them and metal bars were brandished (although we did not actually see them hit the animals, the reaction to the raised rod certainly indicated that they had been hit in the past). The seal show was marginally better, at least until the handler threw a volley ball at a sea lion that was not following orders. What a disappointing day.

The rest of the day was spent at the hotel, in our room and at the pool. This evening our guide took Bill and the kids to see a fountain show. I begged off with a headache. Tomorrow morning we depart for Guangzhou and the White Swan Hotel.