Today we ventured out, unaccompanied by our guide, into Zhengzhou in an attempt to find a nice park to play in. We heard there was a park nearby and with the intense heat outside we figured we should be adventurous and try the subway and so we did!

Eli checking out the view from our room

We successfully bought subway tickets and made it on and off without getting lost. I think the subway station and train were the cleanest places we have been since arriving in China. 

We got to the park which was nice but it wasn't exactly what we were hoping for. Lots of concrete, not a whole lot of green space to run and play. 

Pretty much everywhere we go this is happening....the Chinese people treat blond haired children like celebrities and everyone wants to get their picture taken with them. It is quite strange and a little frightening to the kiddos!

We found a ton of birds at the park that you could pay to feed and then found a giant birdhouse for them. An older man came running up to us yelling in Chinese and we had no idea what he was saying but we figured out he wanted us to get away from his birds and then later saw him near the giant birdhouse. I guess he must have been the bird keeper. 

Here's the giant birdhouse. 

We continued through the park and found some amusement rides and some giant lily pads with beautiful flowers and then we started the long hot walk back to our hotel.  

The heat and all the walking makes this little guy so sleepy!