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Published: March 7th 2010
Hello there!! Sorry this first blog has taken me sooo long to write... hope it's worth the wait! 😱
Sunday 28th February & Monday 1st March 2010:
As usual, i was packing last minute on Saturday and Sunday morning but luckily i finished in time and got to the airport with lots of time to spare! Saying goodbye to Mum and Dad was agonising and i couldnt stop crying all the way through security, waiting to see the gate number, sitting at the gate and once on the plane! I kept getting very worried looks off other people probably wondering what on earth i had tear-stained cheeks, red puffy eyes and a sore nose (from blowing it so much!) for! The flight to Beijing and the transfer to Chengdu went smoothly - they provided lots of food on the plane but i wasnt really very hungry - a mixture of being nervous, tired and still very upset! It sounds silly because i was extremely excited at the same time but the tears just kept falling without much control on my part!
Once in Chengdu a lovely chinese lady (english name Sohpia) collected me and we went in a Taxi to the hostel i would be staying in for the next few days!
She speaks very good English and is good company! At dinner she laughed at my (extremely bad) chopstick attempts and then asked the waitress for a spoon for me - slightly embaressing! Although she found it ammusing she admitted that if she came to England, she wouldn't know how to use a knife and fork either! I slept very well that night as i was physically and mentally exhausted from all the travelling and stress - i was quite overwhelmed by it all really!
Tuesday 2nd March 2010:
Sophia showed me around Chengdu city for the day! We met at 9am and went for breakfast - Chicken noodles... interesting! The first place we visited was a typically chinese ''old street'' - it was very quaint with hundreds of lanterns up still from Chinese New Year and there were lots of small cafes and shops. We then walked to another larger and busier street with huge old traditional buildings on either side with the typical ''fly away'' roofs. Sophia then showed me around the famous ''Green Ram Abbey'' which is a Buddist temply and its thought if you stroke the green ram statue inside it will bring you luck! There were lots of small traditional buildings ornately carved and painted and inside there were statues and pictures of Gods and creatures. There were many references to the 'Ying/Yang' symbols and outside there were hundreds of huge incense sticks and candles burning that had been lit after prayers were said.
After lunch (always something with either rice or noodles), i was shown around a chinese-style university campus which was HUGE - more like a town in itself and we rode around in a ''tricycle'' (sophia and I sat on a seat behind a man on a bike pedalling)! Later on, we walked along the famous river in Chengdu with hundreds of weeping willows on either side to a bamboo park. It had hundreds of different species of bamboo and many different tea houses and some small rides for young children. At the far end of the park an area separated and dedicated to a famous local poet. Inside there were more traditional building, a river watching tower which i climbed up and lots of information about the uses of bamboo and the history of the poet. We stopped here for afternoon tea for quite a long time and i had a back, neck and shoulder massage from a lady at the teahouse -it was only 2pounds! My tea (cresanthemom?!) came with the small flower heads and bright red and orange fruits in it - very pretty!
At about 5pm we caught the bus back to the hostel and we ended up having ''DICOS'' (chinese version on MacDonalds!) for dinner as Sophia knew i wasnt really enjoying the very spicy food!
Wednesday 3rd March 2010:
After an awful sleep (was up all night feeling very sick), we made our way to the Panda Breeding Centre in Bifenxia, high up in the Mountains to the West of Chengdu. It took at 3hours in total and i slept most of the way because i was still feeling rather ''delicate''!! We had to travel up tiny, streep mountain roads to get to the panda base which was quite scary as the driver seemed to drive on whatever side of the road that suited him best and over-taking on sharp blind-bends didnt seem to be an issue!! Luckily, i arrived alive!
I was shown to my room (freezing cold but spacious with two beds and en suite!) I was given a small portable heater to try and warm the room up (it helps minimally!) and there are electric blankets provided luckily! The en suite is typically Chinese with a squat toilet and a shower head above it. If you want warm water for a shower you need to plug it in for 45mins-1hour before you can use it!
After being shown around and given my uniform (an all in one brown overall...very fetching!) we ate lunch. Sophia arranged for me to have as plain food as possible from now on because my stomach was still hurting and after feeding some non-spicy food i began to feel a lot better! 😊
After lunch i was shown where i would be working and given a locker for my overalls. In the area where i work there are 6pandas (5females and 1male) and they all have lovely big enclosures each with a ''mini mountain'' and trees to climb and a pool to bath in during the hot summer! They seem very happy and used to life here which is great to see! To see my first panda in real life was amazing... they seem so big and docile with huuuge paws and they love to just eat and eat and eat! They are extremely lazy animals!!
Later on in the day i managed to unpack my rucksack which was a lovely feeling as i could begin to settle in and form a routine! I also went on a walk around the centre with Sophia - we found a river and small waterfall. The area is massive are there are loads of different sections and walks you can look around so during the next few weeks i will try my best to explore the area!
Dinner was at 6pm (same time everyday) and we ate plain rice with pork in a yummy sauce and tomatoes,cabbage and scrambled egg - an odd mix but surprisingly tasty! Sophia and I chatted for a long time after dinner - she is really good company and has told me a lot about chinese traditions and cultures and she is interested to hear about how different things are in England!
Thursday 4th March 2010:
Breakfast was noodles - i am getting used to using chopsticks now so i actually managed to get them from the bowl to my mouth on the first attempt!! The walk to where i work is about 15mins up and mountain roads but its quite a nice walk and on the way i can watch lots of different pandas eating and climbing trees etc. I met my keeper/mentor who i will be working with for the next 3weeks. He is called Yiu and he trys really hard with his English and to explain what we need to do and why in and around the panda enclosures! It was my first taster of the work i would be doing over the next few weeks and i was really excited to get into the enclosures and see the pandas close up!
Firstly, the pandas are shut inside with some bamboo to keep them occupied whilst we clean their outside enclosures. This involved taking out all the old bamboo and poo! Pandas are VERY messy eaters as they shred the bamboo leaving the green outer ''shell'' and only eating the yellow inner bits! The poo (yellow, straw-like in consistency and about the size of a large avocado!) is dumped on some land nearby and used as fertilisers. The old bamboo is tied and and transported offsite again. When we have brushed up all the leftover bamboo lots of lovely new bamboo is put into the enclosure. The large stems need to be thrown on the floor to crack the hard outer shell to allow the pandas to eat it easier! We then shut the Pandas outside and clean their inside enclosures in the same way! The brushes we use are like witches broomsticks but they work surprisingly well!
After a short break, sophia had to go back to Chengdu to collect her 5year old son from kindergarden and i was left with my keeper Yiu. He showed me how to cut up the ''Panda Cake'' (into 400-450g pieces!). Its yellowish-brown and completely solid.. a butchers knife is used to cut it!! It is made up or rice, oats, powdered bamboo and other nutricious things!! I was allowed to hand-feed this and carrots to the pandas. They all have their own personalities and preferences - some like the carrots first and others the cake and some always have to sniff and lick the food before accepting it as edible - talk about fussy!! The pandas always seat lying on their backs or sitting (like a human would) and always drop most of their cake on the stomachs and use it as a plate/somewhere to put their food for later!!
As it was just a taster day after this i was allowed to leave (not that i really wanted to!) and go back and have some lunch!
At about 3.30pm i got to go into an enclosure with two young pandas and feed, stroke and tickle them! (No-one is allowed in an enclosure with an adult panda becuase they are so big and have huge teeth and claws!) Anway, the young pandas were absolutely gorgeous and i had pictures and a film taken! The five minutes went too quickly but i was glad i did it! Their fur, although it looks very fluffy and soft, is actually very thick and course - more like a wirey brush/horse hair than a fluffy toy!! One but his arm on my leg and although small, i could tell they are extremely strong and heavy!!
Later on in the day i met a lady from Columbia, Liana, who was volunteering just for the day and we had dinner together. She was very friendly and she told me all about her way of life in America, her daughters, her work, and love of pandas!!
Friday 5th March 2010:
Egg fried rice for breakfast 😊 I walked to work with Liana for 8am but we didnt actually start until nearer 8.30am when all the keepers have arrived and had their morning tea!! There is a small office on my section with my locker, a warm/cold water machine, a desk and computer and lots of chairs around a small heater! Its freezing up here so its always nice to sit near the heater!
The mornings work was much the same as Thursdays. There are many short breaks as the pandas are given time to digest and relax between each feed. They are fed 3times in the morning and 3times in the afternoon so we get quite a few breaks...personally id be happy to carry on working and looking at the pandas but it seems to norm to huddle round the heater drinking something hot!!
During one of the feeds, we gave the pandas apple chunks which we had hidden some medication in. Its just general supplements to keep them healthy and happy! We gave them the apple during a training session. It was very interesting to watch. The keeper had arod with a red ball on the end - when the panda touched the ball with his nose or mouth, the keeper blew a whistle and then the treat (apple chunk) was given. This is a good way to make sure they are eating the medication but also it means if the keepers need to check the pandas body, give an injection or have an ultrasound scan, the panda can be distracted by one keeper and not stressed out during a procedure. 😊
After work, i walked around all the panda enclosures that i pass on my way to the hostel. I find it very addictive just to watch them going about their daily lives and could stand and watch for ages!! Some are eating, others sleeping, some climbing trees and in the panda kindergarden the babies are always play fighting, rolling around and being generally cute!!
Liana and I chatted for hours during dinner (sweet and sour fish!) and afterwards in front of the heater in my room! (Its the only warm-ish place!!) She was leaving the following morning (Saturday) but there are also more volunteers joining on Sunday and later on in the week so i wouldnt be on my own for too long!
Saturday 6th March 2010:
As i am not required to work at the weekends the office manager said I could watch a film about pandas in the office to keep to occupied! It was called ''Pandamonium!'' and was really interesting as it explained all the work they do here, about how they look after the pregnant pandas and babies once they are born and all the other aspects of running the centre!
As it was Saturday there were loads more visitors than normal and on my way back for lunch two chinese girls decided they wanted a picture with me! They kept saying i was so beautiful (becuase i have such pale skin compared to them) and took lots of VERY close up pictures of my face (slightly off but i didnt want to seem rude and refuse to have pictures with them!) Unfortunately, other tourists saw the girls and then they also started grabbing my arm and taking pictures with me - i must have had about 20-30 pictures with lots of different chinese tourists all smiling and saying i was beautiful! Although id been given some sort of ''celebrity'' status, i cant say i enjoyed it too much but i smiled for the camera anyway!!
After a yummy dinner of rice, pork and spinach-type greens, i walked around the centre becuase it was still quite light. It was lovely to see the pandas in total silence without lots of visitors chatting away near them! One panda in particular made me laugh becuase it had positioned itself surrounded by bamboo shoots so every time he'd finished one he could simply put his arm out without having to move at all and pick up another stem! Clever but lazy!!
On my way back to the hostel i saw a flying squirrel in the trees above me - it was really weird to see an animal leap so far in the air between trees but obviously it was great to see!
Sunday 7th March 2010:
So far today i have just e-mailed Mum and Dad and not very successfully tried to attach some pictures to an email!! Then ive been writing up to here in the blog which had taken quite a while! (Hope you appreciate it!!) 😉 I will now walk back to the hostel for lunch and probably try and find some more pandas to watch later on!! Feel free to leave me any comments about what you have read! xxx
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Gemma
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Sounds amazing so far :) Glad your having a good time! Can you bring me back a baby panda please?! You also forgot to add how you were talking to me on the sunday 7th, trying to help you sort out the photos! You mentioned about the squatting toilet.. how you finding it?! xxx