We were given a day off to relax and sightsee, and so what may have been a joking comment about visiting the Zoo resulted in everyone traipsing off to do just that. We followed more of Mike’s instructions, with much greater success than the previous time and passed a handy-looking Carrefour nearby. The Beijing sun was unforgiving but thankfully there were reasonably frequent breaks of shade in which to not get hotter (shade doesn’t really cool you down, it just maintains your current temperature).

Faced with long (but fast-moving) queues we got in line. As the first person reached the front they were redirected, so we got in line again… And again… We were eventually pointed to the foreigners’ queue at which we were permitted to buy tickets.

We split up and wandered around following a vague map. Getting to feed the giraffes was a definite high point, although we missed the pandas – despite paying extra to be able to get into their enclosure. I felt sorry for the nocturnal animals – given we were in a darkened area, lots of the visitors were fairly insensitive about shining phone camera torches into their cages to get a better look. I would be very grumpy if I were disturbed by camera-wielding tourists all night (every night).

We first noticed that we were just another one of the attractions when a small Chinese girl asked to have her photo taken with us. At one point we sat down for a break and had a queue of Chinese parents pushing their kids towards us for photos! Occasionally you would spot someone taking a carefully angled selfie (or just taking a photo without any shame whatsoever). We’re still at the stage where it’s hilarious and not particularly annoying, although I suspect if it persists all year it could start to get old.

Our outing was topped off with a stop at the Carrefour on the way back for snacks, especially Pocky (like Mikado in this country but in a multitude of flavours other than chocolate); despite finding a subway stop just outside the Zoo we decided to walk all the way back in the (much cooler) evening sun.

—TJC

Featured image: feeding the giraffes at the zoo