17th December - 9th January Xian One of the old capitals of Beijing—under the Qing Dynasty. We visited the famous terracotta warriors, of which there are believed to be around 6,000. Many are still being unearthed. We also visited a special wildlife reserve where we saw golden monkeys, leopards, wild boars, eagles, golden takins and…pandas! We were able to get close to Yang Yang, a giant panda, and rub his back through the gate. We were astonished at how playful and agile pandas are. Yang Yang effortlessly shredded one observer’s shoe. The bear rolled over on its side with back legs in the air and reached through the gate with his front paws. The shoe victim was safe the entire time and considered it an honor to play with the giant cute bear. Shanghai A massive
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