The main attraction

On Saturday we took a bullet train to Guangzhou so we could go to the zoo. The bus to the train station took way longer to get to than the train to Guangzhou took. I hadn't really ever thought about how going 195km/hr really does get you there fast... But being in a new city with no local language skills does not a fast trip make. We asked...4-5 different people (bus drivers, police men, info desks, etc) which bus to get to the zoo. Every time we were told something different, so we walked in circles miming things for an hour. Finally we broke down and decided to pay a little more and take the subway. Besides the lines, the subway was a much better idea. The maps and signs were in English as well as Chinese, and the stop was just called "zoo", so pretty hard to mistake... 

5 hours after we walked out of the apartment we finally made it to the zoo. It should have taken much less time, but in a group of 11 it can be difficult to move or make decisions quickly. 

There are two zoos in Guangzhou. One of them is incredible, the other is mediocre. I don't know how well we did our research, but I'm kind of thinking we made it to the mediocre zoo. It was very large in area, but some of the cages were quite small, for the animals (like the lion or white tiger). And the ticket was set up that you had to pay extra for a few of the areas. We decided to buy the extras, but I only went in one of the two we got tickets for, and it was lame. There was a camel ride, but you had to pay extra for it, and then it took about 10 steps around in a circle. They did take your picture and print it out right there, but I didn't think it was worth it, so I didn't do that. I did see an emu up close. I was a little scared that it would try to peck me, but it's head was cute!

The panda enclose was large, but the pandas never left their house, so I did not get good pictures of them. 

Funny story: we walked into the zoo, were figuring out when and where to meet, and all of a sudden BOOM!! There had been no lightning, but the thunder sounded right over us. And about a minute later it started pouring. Everyone ran for cover, but being at a zoo there wasn't much cover. All the girls with nice expensive cameras had brought them, so we were all worried about our electronics. In our group of 11, 6 of us managed to bring umbrellas, so we huddled under them and decided to keep trekking on. There was limited time for us to see everything. Plus, it was lunch time and our hunger outweighed the downpour. But none of our umbrellas were really big enough for two people, so about half of us carried everything that shouldn't get wet and the other half just walked in the rain and got soaked. 

I've only ever been to zoos in America, so my expectation for a zoo lunch was definitely overpriced hotdogs or the like. But this being Asia it was (still overpriced I'm sure) bowls of noodles. You bought the cup-o-noodles and then went over where they had boiling/steaming water in a huge kettle and a worker ladled it into your cup. I actually adored it. So good! Even though it was hot soup on a hot day...

Once it stopped raining and more people were out walking around, that is when we discovered what felt like the main attraction at the zoo that day: us. Teenagers holding up their phones or cameras nearly discreetly trying to take a quick shot, others being less discreet. Every time we saw a camera aimed at us we posed with our adopted peace signs. At that point the people would do one of 2 things: laugh and acknowledge they were taking our picture, maybe ask to be in one with us; or they would get embarrassed and walk away quickly. 

Once we split up and there weren't 11, tall, white, American girls walking around all together, we got a lot fewer stares and pictures. But seriously! I started feeling bad for the animals and celebrities since I'm beginning to understand being stared at for doing nothing. My roommate told me a guy was taking a picture of me as i nodded off on the subway. I should think people sleeping on the subway is pretty common, and definitely not attention grabbing...

But the other big adventure at the zoo was the bathroom situation. I've now used a squatter! It was not nearly as bad as I expected, and I think I used the most run down bathroom at the zoo. The bathroom I found the stall doors didn't work, so there was close to no privacy. But, they were still flushing, and I'd thrown some tissue in my purse, so I didn't have to worry about the toilet paper situation, or lack there of since they don't even have toilets... Biggest thing is I realized I brought no hand sanitizer, and I suddenly really wanted it, since the sinks weren't working well. 

We had a few more hours in Guangzhou after the zoo closed, so we had dinner across the street at a Hong Kong style restaurant. I really wished I had Katelin there, or service to text her and ask what I should get, but with the time change it wouldn't have worked anyways. I got some giant meat balls, which were good, but spiced differently than I am used to. Not spicy, but not how I expected the meat to taste. Some of picky eaters of the group were especially excited to see grilled cheese, fries, and milkshakes on the menu. They are extremely picky and sometimes I worry that they don't get enough to eat, so I'm glad they found something they like. But I'm also glad I'm not picky and brave enough to really try the crazy things sometimes! Although we haven't had much chance to see or try crazy things yet. 

Eating fries with chopsticks...it works great!!

It was a really long day that ended with us getting back to Zhongshan after the bus to our neighborhood stopped running. We were at a loss as to what to do, since it was 11pm... I offered taxis, and after calling and consulting the coordinators we hailed down taxis. They hard core ripped us off... It should only have been 20 rbm, but they wouldn't let us into their taxis for less than 40... But we were kind of too tired to care. I was just mad that we had gotten back after the bus, but it was a good learning experience: if it's just a day trip, keep it to day hours so we have plenty of time to deal with public transportation and getting home.