Adults dressed in suits resembling a mouse, a duck or a goofy-looking dog are all well and good, but my young daughter prefers the real thing. Or so she declared after a trip to the White Tiger Safari and Night Zoo in Panyu, near the mouth of the Pearl River in Guangdong.
While seven-year-olds tend to live in the present, this one's declaration ought to be taken seriously. She has been to the Tokyo and Los Angeles Disneylands, and decided she would rather enjoy her eighth birthday party with friends at the wildlife entertainment complex across the border than at Hong Kong Disneyland.
She heard no argument from her father. Disney does a great job, but can it offer a child the chance to commune with nature and learn the importance of conservation, while also having a rip-roaring time at the circus?
The Da Shi area of Panyu is a bit more difficult to get to than Penny's Bay, of course. You need passports, visas and patience, and the trip lasts about two-and-a-half hours. But it's worth it to see your child's face light up at the sight of a stuffed six-metre crocodile mounted on the wall of the lobby at the Chimelong Hotel.
The five-star property sits opposite the night zoo and, because it is already late afternoon when we arrive, we decide to enjoy its facilities until dinner. This involves a dip in the pool, a peek at the bowling alley, a stop at the cinema to check film schedules, then a tour of the restaurants. If I had been on my own I would have spent time at the golf driving range. But never mind.
First is the Crocodile Lounge, where tea and snacks are served during the day under the reproachful gaze of the stuffed crocs. Then it is on to the White Tiger western restaurant, built around a glass enclosure housing two of the zoo's finest specimens. It is a thrill to be putting fork to mouth with the male tiger a few feet away, staring at us with piercing blue eyes, intently licking its lips. The Chinese restaurant next door may have dim sum to kill for, but there is no way I am going to get my young companion to leave her new playmates.
The highlight of the trip comes about an hour later as we catch a shuttle bus across to the night z oo's Big Top for the Cirque du Chimelong. It is an enthralling experience, involving mostly Russian and Chinese performers. They include trapeze artists, jugglers, high-wire flyers, dancing hippos, contortionists, elephants doing handstands, monkeys riding bicycles and clowns fooling around on stilts. Lasers and disco music keep the 3,000-strong crowd pumped for 90 minutes, the climax of which comes when a flock of pelicans swoop in over our heads.