April 10, 2016 Changdu, Giant Panda visit

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This morning I received a text message from my beautiful wife, showing me a photo of the 6 inches of snow that landed in Toledo last night. I almost didn't have the heart to tell her that it was 75 and beautiful here in China, after all she did allow me to go alone. Fortunately, she told me the snow was gone by evening, so at lease she didn't have to shovel.



Today we began our tour at 8:30. We boarded our luxury high rider bus and headed out of town to the Giant Panda Breeding Park. This is the largest Park of it's kind in the world catering to a population of endangered breeding Giant Pandas.



The Giant Panda is a national treasure in China with about 1600 left in the wild and several hundred in breeding parks. There was some early controversy on the bus when the guide said that the Giant Panda has been around for 8 million years longer than the dinosaurs. I took umbridge at the comment.



I quickly hit Google and found a scholarly article that clearly said that the Giant Panda (Alopoda Melanoluce) was only, at most, 1.5 million years old and that the oldest known fossil was that of a miniature Panda, called Alopoda Microtota, and that was only 3 million years old. Our guide was agast that I would challenge the teachings of the China Breeding Project. I guess propaganda is still propaganda and is alive and well in China.



After our altercation, I was still allowed on the tour, we entered the beautiful grounds of the complex to learn about Giant Panda breeding and see some of the juveniles and adults. I have to say, the Giant Panda is indeed adorable.



The complex itself was beautiful, covered in exotic plants and, of course, bamboo the favorite (and only) food of adult Pandas. We were able to get close to the Pandas in their open air enclosures and enjoyed watching them eat, play and sleep. Some even were sitting in their own pools, cooling off, as it was way to hot for an animal wearing a big fur coat to be cool. We saw a movie on the care of baby Pandas and learned about the ongoing effort to protect those Giant Pandas left in the wild and to increase the current breeding population.



The park was also home to the Lesser Panda better known as the Red Panda. This is a completely different species of animal and resembled our raccoon, except it has red fur and looked a great deal in the face like a Giant Panda. They eat a much more varied diet of fruits, vegetables (especially pumpkin) milk and eggs. In the wild they are known to capture birds and also rob their nests looking for eggs. Here in the complex they are well fed, so the local birds have nothing to worry about.



We ate another sumptuous lunch in the complex, visited more of the exhibits and were allowed a little time for shopping in the souvenir shop. My grandson Vincent now has his very own Giant Panda cub.



After the Panda exhibit, we did something completely different . We went back to the hotel for a much needed nap and refreshing shower! We had about 90 minutes before our trip into town for dinner, so we all welcomed the break in the action.



After our rest, we headed to an area called the Broad and Narrow streets. The complex is aptly named as it is constructed of various streets, some broad, some narrow, all lined with merchants and, of course, street vendors.



This was an amazing array of sights, sounds, smells and tastes. There were a variety of tea shops, all selling an amazing variety of teas. They were available for tasting and served by beautiful costumed Chinese women. Then there was the silversmiths, sitting outside their shops pounding silver into various items right before your eyes. Some of their work was amazing, but I was out of the jewelry market, sorry Cathy. Next came the ice cream vendors. Each has a variety of cold treats. There was a form of Gelato, some kind of frozen fruit mixture on a stick and various blended concoctions designed to please the palette. My will power held and I passed all the treats. Really.



My favorite sights were of the food vendors. Here we had an unbelievable variety to choose from. There was rabbit on a stick, large grilled fish on a stick followed by chicken, pork and other meats all on a stick. Next came the exotic foods. There was octopus, star fish, squid, baby chick's (whole head guts and all) and other unidentifiable meats. Finally the truly odd delights. There were, duck head (the whole head bill and all) turkey head (same rule as the duck), duck necks (I guess you got one with the duck head), whole rabbit (sorry no head) and something I swear looked like rat. I was offered and accepted a taste of white yak meat. It was like a salty dry jerky meat; tasty. Since dinner was only a few minutes away, I had to pass on the more challenging foods. I am glad I did, actually.



Next came dinner, again served family style with plates set on the "turning table" for all to share. Tonight's delights were on the spicy side and delicious. We washed it down with beer and joined in lively and entertaining discussions.



There was an evening optional tour. Tonight we had the opportunity to go to a Chinese Show with singing, and music. Although our guide Jo pushed us hard to attend, it is her favorite show; the fact that we have a 4:15 AM wake up call took the buzz out of the evening.



We are catching a 7:20 AM flight to our next destination, so it is bed for me and Rick. Dick, made a brave move, and attended the show. Never saw that one coming.

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Photos

Entrance To Panda GArdens
Less than 2000 Pandas are alive in the world

Red Panda
A much smaller cousin of the Giant Panda. About the size of a raccoon