Last Day in Chongqing

Tibetan bear


Hippo with baby


Family photo


Giant Panda in action



Breakfast time


Today (12/7) we went to the Chongqing zoo. We only saw a portion of it, but of course we visited the panda exhibit. There were red pandas, which are quite a bit smaller and have long tails, and giant pandas. The pandas were active while we were there, eating bamboo leaves. Many of them were very close. Nina enjoyed looking at the animals.

Later we went the Three Gorges Museum, which tells the story of a dam being built on the 2 rivers in Chongqing. It is set to be completed in 2009 and is being built to control flooding, and will also generate 15% of the electricity used in Chongqing. It will flood many of the cities along the river and 1.2 million people will have to find new homes! It is quite an undertaking but was very interesting to see. There was a huge mural painting on the wall about 200 feet long and 7 feet high depicting the cities and the new water levels, but we were not allowed to take pictures. There was also a gift shop that had many paintings, some by the artist who did the mural. There was also a painter there who lost his arms in an electricity accident at age 4 who was painting with his teeth, “paintings” done of embroidery, and many beautiful jade pieces.

This afternoon we completed more paperwork for the American Consulate in Guangzhou and got Nina’s passport. Tomorrow it is off to Guangzhou, the final leg in our China journey, and then the long ride home.

Nina continues to do well. She usually enjoys being held by one of us and likes to ride on the bus. She is pretty good about sitting in one of our laps. She is a good sleeper and eater. She likes to play with her food a little bit, but still eats it. We have not had any issues with her cleft palate. She can eat okay and most of the time we forget about it! Each day continues to get better and better.