Chengdu – home of Pandas and Prada

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Chengdu

We added Chengdu into our trip as it seemed like a pleasant stop off on the way and had heard of a panda conservation and breeding centre there. I was expecting Chengdu to be similar to Xi’an but it is a lot bigger and more modernised, the street of designer stores however did seem a bit out of place; you could have been mistaken to thinking you were in Paris or Milan.

We did however stick to panda spotting as opposed to window shopping. Have to say the pandas were adorable and it is a privilege to be able to see such a rare creature in real life and at such close proximity. They do live in very good conditions; however it is essentially a zoo, they don’t re-habilitate them into the wild or anything like that which is a little disappointing. They also have a museum which featured a lot of interesting info, although some things, such as artificial insemination of pandas I’m not so sure about. Seems wrong to mess with nature to that extent.

All in all though an enjoyable day with some awesome photos. The Chinese tourists obviously thought so too and saw us as additional attractions taking photos – believe me white people are not on the brink of extinction, focus on the bears folks!

This brings me to some of the, let’s say cultural differences I have experienced in China so far…

1. Already touched upon, treatment of foreigners. The staring, taking photos and generally pointing at your face and laughing is almost constant. I get that many people here are perhaps less educated and haven’t travelled that much but still! If I didn’t have a complex before, I do now! A classic example of this was back in Beijing when I was walking on a hot day wearing a vest top, a man was tapping me on the arm and laughing. My friend later translated that he was saying ‘big, white meat!’ – lovely, thinking I may need to hit the gym a little more! If someone behaved this way in the UK you would think them incredibly racist but it’s just how it is in China.

2. Spitting. This is a constant and generally noisy activity. I’m not sure if this is due to the amount of pollution in the air or their diet or what but I personally I have never found the need to honk up a load of gunk into the street.

3. Roads. Absolute chaos (same goes for many other Asian countries) I just don’t understand the ‘go for it and hope for the best’ system they seem to have. Bikes are everywhere too and seem to use both roads and pavements equally, I’m sorry but a motorcycle a pedestrian does not make!

4. Children doing their business. Not so much the kids fault, so much as they are wearing split bottom trousers so that if they need to go toilet they can, whenever and wherever. Not what you want in the background of your photo. I’m all for being environmentally friendly but c’mon you pick up after your dog not your child.

5. Personal space. Just doesn’t exist. Neither do queues for that matter.

Ok rant over. I’m sure the Chinese would have a lot to say about British culture too!

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