If you’re a child of the District, it’s a distinct possibility that dozens of trips to the National Zoo over the years formed very strong memories for you. There’s the good old reptile house; the good old elephant house; and of course the good old pandas. Even a dozen or so years after my childhood, return trips offered up the same sort of feeling: not much is ever different at the zoo. Which is oddly comforting, but also kind of oddly sad when you keep seeing the animals in their same old enclosures that look like they haven’t changed since the 1930s — which is because they probably haven’t.

As you must have heard by now, the zoo is set to change that. As part of a 10-year expansion plan, they opened the new Asia Trail to the public on Tuesday, revealing a six-acre spread that does animal-lovers proud, as well as seamlessly incorporates some slick new interactive features for kids and a bit of gorgeous landscaping. And best of all: plenty of angles from which to view the animals and even get some close-up shots of their pretty, pretty faces. Except for the giant salamander. He wasn’t pretty. Check out our take on the rest of the Asia Trail (and the zoo’s plans to update the elephant house) after the jump.

Photo by Flickr user clarissa~, who has a whole set here. Used with permission.