Kaolas, and Tigers, and Shopping! Oh My!

It has been a busy couple of days.

But they have also been pretty fun. 

We met three other Wasatch families the day of our medical exam and we have spent the last two days doing fun stuff with them.  I like having other families so much more than being on our own.  And, it would appear, so does Yue Lan. 

Of the Wasatch families, two others are on their second adoption like us.  The other family is a Chinese woman ( who now lives in Texas) who is here by herself while her husband is back home with their son.  The awesome thing is, the two families who are here on their second adoptions both have 8 year old girls who were previously adopted - one when she was 15 months old, the other when she was 4 years old.  Both girls are very American and only speak English, but the universal language of being a kid breaks down all the boarders and Yue Lan has a great time with them.  And the bonus is, the one family with the girls who was adopted at 15 months is back adopting a 7 year old boy who is only a couple of months younger than Yue Lan!  It is especially fun to see the two of them playing, chatting away in Chinese and even holding hands when they walk!  I think they are both so happy to have someone to talk to!!!

Our first day as a group, our guide Lili took us to a pearl and medicine supplies market.  Basically the medical supplies were a bunch of dried up, disgusting things that are used to make soups and teas.  There were things like snakes, earth worms, bugs, sea horse, roots, etc.  I am sure there are some medicinal value to using such items, but I think I prefer medicines that come in little pills full of ingredients that I do not know about.

The best part about our day out was the outdoor pet shops we ran across.  There were kittens, puppies, birds, turtles, fish, etc for sale on the streets.  I know what some of you are thinking...and no they were NOT for food:)  Appearantly, Yue Lan likes animals.  It was difficult getting her to move on - especially from the birds.  She kept telling our guide she wanted to take one home!  (I think she is going to love the Patten's house!)

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The day would have been perfect except that it was about 93 degrees and 100% humidity.  After a couple of hours we all felt like we were melting.  And the kids began to drag.  And it was the most crowded shopping center I have ever been in.  Lili took us to McDonald's for lunch (none of  us Americans actually wanted to eat there, but she thought we would like it and we didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise).  It was the most crowded McDonald's I have ever seen.  And there were two levels.  No tables available anywhere, so we had a good excuse to leave:)  Luckily, after a long, hot walk back to the island, we ate at a yummy Italian restaurant instead!

The next day (Monday) was the day we were all looking forward to.  We were going to the Safari Park and Zoo!  Again, it was super hot and humid, but we all came armed with drinks and snacks to help beat the heat.  And the good news is, since it was a Monday, the place was practically deserted!  What a welcome change!!!

The Chimelong Zoo was absolutely amazing.  Very well done.  We started with a walk through a dinosaur exhibit with animatronic dinosaurs that were even better than what Disney has to offer!  The problem was, they were so realistic that all of the kids, except one, were scared witless!  The adults loved them, though.  And it was air conditioned!  (Bonus)

Then we went on a safari train ride.  It was pretty neat because this zoo did not have just one or two of a kind of animal.  They literally had herds of them!  We saw more zebras and giraffes than I have ever seen!  The same goes for tigers, lions, hippos, white tigers, etc. 

Even the animals in the exhibits outside of the safari train were huge in numbers!  There were probably 2 dozen elephants.   And of course the pandas!  There were probably 20 or 30 of them.  Unbelievable!  We even saw baby pandas in incubators!  How cool is that?

Lili took us to the White Tiger Show.  It was ok, but I find that kind of stuff disturbing.  I can't help but wonder if the animals are treated well.  And I wonder why anyone would want to kiss a lion on the mouth...Yuk!  Yue Lan really liked it, though.  

The best part of the day was being able to feed and touch some of the animals.  We had fun feeding the giraffes, and planned on feeding the elephants, but it began to pour down raining!  Luckily, the rain didn't stop us from feeding baby tigers (thought of you, Jennifer!) and petting a koala (my favorite part of the day!!!).  Yue Lan was a bit afraid of the tiger, but she loved the koala once she got used to it!

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The day was super fun.  We were all exhausted and soaked on the way home, but it was worth it!  It was a great way to spend an afternoon with some new friends as we try to patiently wait for the time when we can  go home.