What's black and white and dreams about colors?

Today was our rainiest day since we've been in China and it was the day to see the Giant Pandas at the Beijing Zoo.  Such a calming and peaceful creature, innocent, quiet, and slow-moving.  An obvious favorite of the Chinese, the panda is believed to have two dreams: 1) dreaming of endless supplies and harvests of bamboo to eat 2) being an animal of only black and white colors, the Chinese believe the pandas dream of the possibility of seeing in multiple colors.  Also, knowing how the pandas' eyes are black, the Chinese say they should get more sleep because of the dark circles around their eyes.

I'm not really enamored by zoos, but it was interesting to see a panda for the first time. We were given just shy of an hour to explore the Beijing Zoo and it holds wide varieties of animals, but observing animals in captivity is a real somber experience for me. If the animals aren't anxious and pacing with nervous energies, their body language exhibits defeat, a depressed demeanor that has lost their instinctive zest for life, for freedom.  It's a tricky dichotomy. While the zoos help protect and inform on these species, they are also not natural environ for these species.

The pandas were slow-moving, more interested in consuming the mounds of bamboo than anything or anyone around them. I ventured into the pheasant section and some of those species were absolutely exquisite!  I am always intrigued by the peacock.  He sat on watch as his peafowl rested in the back. His look was so stoic!  With a royal plumage as his, who would dare mess with him or his mate?  His legs so sturdy and matured, he perched and stared straight ahead, like a guard at the Buckingham Palace.  The most fascinating fowl with its unique and exotic color patterns is called Lady Amherst's Pheasant. I was wowed by its strikingly beautiful plumage!

From there, with about 15 minutes remaining, I ventured straight ahead, through the weeping willow fronds in the steady rain, to the Monkey Hill. One can always tell when they are close to monkeys because of their putrid smell of potent and territorial urine. There were quite a few males that just exhibited their territorial brawn and hierarchy in the pecking order.  These were the same species of monkeys that freely roamed at Pashupathinath and Swayambunath Temples in Nepal.  One came over to where I was observing to eat in peace. To watch their little hands pick up the smallest bits of food, contemplate what they were holding, and then pop it right into their mouths was very interesting and human-like!