Chengdu - Pandas

---

Today was another highlight of our visit to China. We visited the Panda Research Centre at Chengdu. What an experience. To see our first live Panda was something I will remember for a very long time. We had a chance to learn about the work of the research centre, that the population of pandas is growing each year, that they haven't been able to successfully release a Panda back to the wild yet and that Jackie Chan sponsored the research centre and "adopted" two Pandas. We got to see all the different age groups which they keep segregated and of the 80 Pandas at the research centre we got to see about 20. We got there quite early which was good, the Pandas were eating, exploring and climbing - when we came back for a second visit on our way out it was obviously snooze time and there wasn't a lot of activity happening. We saw 6 baby Pandas in the nursery - they were in a very large crib behind glass and you weren't allowed to take photos, they ranged from about 2 months to 5 months. We walked past them a few times - they were just lovely to see. I didn't visit the kindergarten but a few of the group did - they paid extra (quite a lot extra!) to hold a Panda - I saw photos later and the Panda's were huge (about 4 feet long!) not cute and cuddly small ones, and Heather who held them said that the fur was quite course - I certainly don't regret not holding one - the experience of being able to watch them for as long as we liked was enough for me. We also got to see some very playful Red Pandas. I did my bit to help the research by buying a Panda bag for Kat and a Panda for Matt as well as some lovely post cards. It was a wonderful experience and I don't think I stopped smiling for the rest of the day.

After lunch we visited a silk factory and watched some experts use an old fashioned loom to hand weave the silk. It takes one 8 hour day to weave 6 inches of fabric!!! After that we visited a Hutong in Chengdu - an old part of the city that has been done up and which reminded me of the Salamanca area of Hobart - restaurants and up market shops in beautiful old buildings. We had an enjoyable hour just wandering and discovered a large gourmet type food store and luckily a young shop assistant who wanted to practise his English - we got quite a few tastings, Greg discovered some rice and peanut snacks that he liked and he also bought some dried Yak beef to try. We also discovered an unusual job that seems to be found in this part of town - Ear Cleaner - yes you sit in the street and have your ears cleaned (and yes we got a photo but I'm not going to publish it!) We went to a great restaurant in the Hutong area and had one of our nicest meals of the trip there and then it was off to the airport where to our National Guide's amazement our flight was actually on time. We arrived in Guilin about 10pm and checked in and then prepared for an overnight trip away the next day.

---

Photos

Panda Research Centre
Breakfast - 40 kgs of bamboo a day of which only 15% is digested.

Morning Nap
This Panda walked about 10 feet to this deck, flopped down like this and promptly went to sleep - hard work being a Panda!