ByGD
This is Signal Hill Park (Xinhao Shan 信号山) in Qingdao. It is one of the ten important hill parks in Qingdao, and was very close to our hotel in the old German concession area. These red blobs are look-out towers for tourists. But to me, they look like Studio Ghibli creatures keeping watch over the city.
ByGD
I’ve mentioned before that animal care standards in China are not quite the same as in the U.S.
And I’ve mentioned their shopping malls that put ours to shame.
These two facts collided on the third day that my daughter and I returned to the brand-new MixC mall in Qingdao. She wanted to go ice skating. The mall had only been open for a couple of weeks, and on this Sunday it was celebrating the new ice rink. So, while she and dozens of others skated, a corner of the Olympic-sized rink was walled off from the skaters. Shoppers piled up along the rink wall to watch the show. First some penguins were trotted out on the ice to run around. Then a trained walrus from one of the city’s multiple aquariums was brought out. Among the walrus’ many tricks, he was trained to dance to the then-top hit “Gangnam Style.”
My daughter and hundreds of local shoppers were charmed. I was so shocked I didn’t even think to complain that it should have been the Lobster Quadrille.
ByGD
I took this photo of a dragon fountain in Qingdao. I think it was on an easy hike through a famous park right next to our hotel. But I can’t remember for sure. Anyway, it’s a nice fountain.
ByGD
The sign on this aquarium tank in China says, “Do not beat.” With my daughter posed the way she is, it’s somewhat ambiguous whether they mean the fish or the child. I think they mean not to tap on the glass. But just in case, I’ll be nice to the kid, too.
ByGD
One of the main benefits of travel is learning what life is seeing for yourself that there are many different ways to exist. It can be hard, though, to know how much of your judgement to leave at home, and which values to hold on to wherever you are.
In a country that doesn’t have enough room for all of its people where human rights are not protected, how can we expect them to meet our animal care standards? At the same time, an animal in distress is no less distressing for that knowledge.
I knew better than to visit a zoo in China. But when you’re traveling with a 10-year-old, it’s nearly impossible to pass up a zoo. It was as bad as I expected. Even the goldfish pond was overcrowded.