YanCheng - Safari Park

YanCheng is a surprise waiting to be discovered in Changzhou. We always knew that the place existed, but we were always under the impression that it was not much more than canals and a museum with an old artifact that is evidence of people living here for more than 2,500 years. Located in the south of the city, in the Wujin District, Maureen and I took the B1 bus of the BRT system. Of course, the work of checking out the BRT system ahead of time so that we would get off at the right bus stop was done using the online system (see the online site for BRT maps in various cities in China). Thankfully, the bus had a digital display telling us the name of the various stops as it wasn't very easy to "hear" the bus stops as they were announced. With the name of the stop written down, we got off at the right stop. Of course, looking out the window of the bus would have given us enough notice about when to get off as there was a lot of evidence that we were in the YanCheng tourist area.

At the entrance to the zoo called the YanCheng Safari Park, one quickly gets the idea that the zoo will be child friendly. Surprisingly, the zoo was quite large. Many small families rented little motorised carts so that little legs wouldn't tire out too soon. After each little zone, such as the monkey zone, there would be play areas.

After we had walked a few hours covering all of the zones available for those walking, we arrived at a checkpoint where we had to board a train that would take us out into the safari park area where large animals roamed in relative freedom. At this checkpoint area a number of rides for smaller children were available for entertainment as well as two outlets selling food for those who had worked up an appetite. Maureen and I decided it was time for some noodle soup.

I would have to say that the giraffe was Maureen's favourite animal at the zoo. I think the giraffe was just as interested in her as she was in it. We did get to see a lot of birds, monkeys, lions, tigers, wolves, deer, bears, snakes, and other things that one would expect to see in a zoo. We were impressed with the quality of the displays and the evident care that was taken with the animals. All looked healthy.

When we had finished with the zoo, we walked the edges of the YanCheng area so that we could decide where we would visit next. There is little doubt that there are a few more days of wandering to be had in YanCheng.