A cold and sunny morning in Tianjin. With a few hours to kill before our departure for the stadium, Sue, Alan, Lloyd and I took a cab out to Shuishang Park and Tianjin Zoo. The park is intriguing, with its mixture of traditional Chinese-style pavilions and modern theme-park decor. Once inside Shuishang Park, you pay an entry fee for Tianjin Zoo. We weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into, but when we saw the signs for giant pandas we thought 'Why not?' Sadly, Tianjin hasn't caught up with the western paradigm of zoos with space for animals to roam. Most animals on display were in tiny concrete cages. Seeing the lone giant panda was depressing, because it looked so depressed on its own in a desolate cage. The monkeys, red pandas and hippos didn't look any happier.
We spent a great morning walking around Shuishang Park. Our taxi driver was waiting for us right on time at 12pm, so it was back to the hotel for a quick feed and change into our battle gear.
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