Animal Park

Today we went with our new friends from Oregon to the animal park.  It was part of a large resort with a water park and hotel.  It was the best animal park I have ever seen.  First we drove on a tram through open areas with roaming animals.  ChunMing wasn't very animated except for an occasional "ahhhh".  He seemed a bit timid and curious.  After the tram we walked through the rest of the park and saw Koala's, black bears swimming, flamingos, pandas, and all sorts of different animals.

It was fun to watch the people interact.  Waiting in lines, opening doors for others, or even stepping aside for someone is not part of the culture as far as we can see.  David calls it survival of the fittest.  It makes it difficult to get around in crowds for sure.  We also noticed a vast difference in attire.  We saw from casual clothes like shorts and t shirts all the way to lace dresses and high heels.  High heels of all types seem to be the "in" thing. 

We did get a lot of looks, but nothing compared to Inner Mongolia.  We even had a couple of people taking our picture.

Daddy bought a bubble machine that ChunMing can't get enough of.  He blew bubbles on everyone he walked by.

There were orangutans playing in the trees right above the crowd.  No cage here.  In America it would be a lawsuit waiting to happen.  Too much liability :)

The crowd was intense through the walking area of the dinosaurs.
 ChunMing didn't like it,but we couldn't go forward or backward. 
Poor ChunMing put the stroller cover over his head.

 It was so incredibly hot and humid it was difficult sometimes to breathe.  We purchased probably $45 worth of water while we were there.  We poured it on our heads, clothing and arms.  Everyone was perspiring!  When we felt overheated we purchased ice cream or slushy drinks to cool our body temperature down. 


This bird was standing completely still like this for a long time.
 We thought it was a statue.



ChunMing liked the Giraffes

Mom liked the Rhinos



Driving through the park on a tram. 



The tigers were stately

ChunMing is slowly allowing mom to do more, but still doesn't interact unless he has to.  He even closes and locks the doors between our living space and bedroom in the hotel when I am in a different room than he and David, but today we had a slight breakthrough.  We found a small children's play area at the park that included some rides.  ChunMing first rode the merry go round, which didn't create a smile, but increased his curiosity.  The next ride we couldn't go on with him and I was concerned to let him go alone because he is so unstable and falls so much.  He independently got on with some help of the workers and smiled big. We were so proud of him!  Then my favorite part of the day happened!  He wanted to go on another ride he saw, but he had to have an adult accompany him.  I gave David the eye and he conveniently disappeared while ChunMing was distracted.  ChunMing held my hand and got into line.  The first few minutes he kept calling out for Baba, but David was smart and was standing out of his eyesight.  He finally relaxed and as we stood in line he leaned his back against me and I placed my hands on his chest.  When he reached up and put his hands on mine, I almost cried right there in line!  I was so excited!  That moment will be stamped on my mind and will keep me going until the next time.

ChunMing's first hot dog.  He wasn't sure what to do, so David had to take a bite
first and then put it in ChunMing's mouth.  He at the entire thing.

Hanging on tight to the Merry-Go-Round

Independent!

Standing in line ChunMing let me hold him for a few minutes.

Mom and ChunMing on the ride.  Whoopie!!



On our way out of the park Baba bought a hat for ChunMing.  He wore it for 3 minutes and hasn't put it back on. 
The child's watch he bought on the other hand, hasn't come off. 

We wish the children back home could have been with us. We miss them.  They would have loved it! 

Our guide called a laundry service to pick up our laundry.  We have been hand washing items, but here in Guangzhou it is too humid and they don't dry. We brought size 4/5 clothes from the US, but we have to pin them to keep them on.  The shorts and pants are huge!  Yesterday I had to blow dry ChunMing's underwear!  The gal that picked up the laundry gave me this little charm as a gift; knowing we had just adopted ChunMing.