Finding the Pandas

(46 Reviews)
100% Recommended

Karen Malone

Victoria, MN

Cruise and Tour Specialist

My interests are many but one of my first loves in traveling is cruising. I have been on more than 40 cruises all over the world including river cruising and trans-Atlantic crossing. I hold two certificates with Cruise Lines International Associat...

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During my stay in Beijing i did the typical tourist tours to the Great Wall, Forbidden Palace, and the Houtongs. But I had a free day and wanted to go to the Beijing zoo and see the pandas there. Being a Jersey girl born and bred, I heard that you could take the subway to a stop near the zoo. And having lived with the tangled mess that are the New York subways, I figured this would be simple. Now mind you, English is still not widely spoken in China. But I was told at my hotel that there is only one subway line and it does a loop. So I figured if I missed the stop I would just ride it around again. I did get off at the right stop but then I was lost. I stopped in at several businesses along the way, asking if I was on the right route to the zoo. No one understood me and did what we do to people speaking a foreign language in our country. They spoke to me in Chinese slowly and LOUDER!. Finally I found a post office and one person there directed me to the right path to the zoo. Once there again I was lost as all the signage was in Chinese. I did find a South Korean tour group who spoke English. They were going to see the pandas and graciously let me tag along. To my surprise we headed back to the entrance to the zoo. At the fork in the path I had chosen the right one, had I chosen the left it would have taken me right to the pandas! Sometimes getting lost is the best thing you can do in a destination. In this case I got to see the whole zoo before finding my target and it made for a great story. My next post will be about the hilarious zoo cruise....