New thing #37: Panda-monium

I love zoos! So when work took me to China and I found out the zoo was within walking distance of my hotel, I made it a point to go. My first stop was the giant panda exhibit, since I've never seen a real one. Six fat bears, reacting to the extremely hot and humid weather in Shanghai in July, preferred to lie nearly comatose inside their dirty glass and concrete cage instead of going outside to frolic in the bamboo trees of their enclosure. But many of the other local exotic animals were out and about. I got to see red pandas (adorable), a Chinese tiger (looked like any other tiger to me) and the hilarious expressive sun bears (my new favorite!) I stayed away from the pet zoo, which I'd heard was unpleasant, but the rest of the zoo was pretty nice. I enjoyed the park-like setting and the wide variety of wildlife, including an albino wallaby! Or maybe it was actually a giant rat. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the zoo: