Pandas

China and pandas are for many synonymous. In the past, we have visited US zoos featuring pandas and left somewhat disappointed. The pandas were either sleeping or nestled into a comfortable spot far away from the prying eyes of the public. Expecting the same, we followed the crowd toward the panda exhibit. The first exhibit was empty (or maybe the pandas were hiding), the second featured a sleeping panda, the third exhibit had a set of twin pandas who were also napping, and the fourth featured Tintin another panda catching up on his beauty sleep. All of a sudden, we hear the crowd murmuring and see the people moving towards Tintin. He had woken up and was hungry. Bamboo shoots taste good, and he was not afraid to let us know it was delicious.  Once fortified by his greenery, he wandered around, exploring his surroundings. We enjoyed watching him climb and fall, walk around and climb some more, and even trying to get the attention of the pandas in the next exhibit. One of the twins also arose and showed off his acrobatic abilities.
It was such a treat, and they commanded our attention for a long time. We were all a bit reticent to leave but knew there were more things to see. We ended our zoo visit by watching the tiny red pandas who were happy to show off.