Beijing Aquarium and Zoo

It has been far too long since I've written a blog. Much has happened since the trip to Shanghai, although my visit to the Beijing Aquarium and Zoo proved to be significant enough to finally post another blog.
After coming back from Shanghai I first had to get re-acquainted with eating 3 yuan ($0.50) Ramen noodles and settling for the scenery of my hotel room. The times of splurging on delicious food and views from an 87th floor bar were left behind in Shanghai. Nonetheless, I was happy to return to my home away from home here in Beijing, where all my current possessions awaited me.
Classes have continued at the usual vivace tempo and required my catching up what I missed while in Shanghai. With some diligent effort all was well and my dictations and quiz did not suffer in the department of grades.
I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but I also got my first hair cut here in China. It was quite the interesting experience. It came with a straight-blade shave and all together only cost 20 yuan ($3).
Last Sunday I went to visit the Summer Palace. It was a really nice and hot day, so walking in the sun was a bit of a chore, but the ice cream vendors on the paths up the hill helped out with that. The Summer Palace is an elegant scenic spot. It is right by a lake and from the top of the hill the view extends up till the Great Wall on a clear day. I spent a good hour an a half sitting in the shade on some pagoda with a beautiful view studying in my Chinese book. It was very relaxing.
Now to the Aquarium and the Zoo. Yesterday, I successfully carried out the first activity on my own since I've been on this trip. I have had a need for some self directed adventures for a little while now, since most activities tend to take place in a group. I took the bus from our hotel bus stop (颐和园路东口) "yiheyuan lu dongkou" to the metro station (五道口) "Wudaokou" then the metro to Xizhimen station (西直门站) "Xizhimen zhan". From there I walked to the Zoo. What I did not know at first is that to get to the Aquarium you have to go through the Zoo. So I also went to visit the Zoo. I felt like a little kid all over again, looking at all the animals that we usually do not get to see on a daily basis. Of course the most famous attraction particular to the Beijing Zoo is the Pandas. I went to see them, but then also many other animals: ostriches, zebras, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, birds and many more.
At the Aquarium I saw many different kinds of fish and also watched a dolphin show. That was also very entertaining. In the Coral reef section of the Aquarium I also reconstructed scenes of the movie Finding Nemo. I found a clown fish with an anemone and a glowing blue fish that looked like Dory. So if you look at the aquarium pictures you should be able to piece together the characters of Finding Nemo. :D
Finally, at the end of the day I beat the rain home and headed straight for my bed to have a little rest. I began my trip that day at around 11am and came home at 7pm and most of that time I was walking, so a little rest was just the right thing.
Today in class we had our last quiz (in class test) only 4 days left and on Monday we have our final exam. It has gone so fast.
I will write some more later. There is still one more trip at the end of the program that will surely incur many pictures. Hope everyone is enjoying their summers as much as I am :D
Till next time!