In 2007 a report showed that their were 27 pandas living outside China in zoos around the world. The remaining 1800 were in China either in captivity or the wild. The San Diego Zoo is home to some of those pandas, but every time I've visited the panda exhibit they were difficult to see, or not in sight at all. Unimpressive at the very least.
Chengdu, China is home to Sichuan food (spicy!), Sichuan Opera (real weird stuff), and the Panda Sanctuary. Chengdu loves their pandas, and it is rare to walk more than two blocks without spotting some Panda paraphernalia. Even the traffic signs have pandas on them; I wish we had panda-inspired traffic signs....
The Chengdu Panda Base is dedicated in panda conservation, and enables the public to see the pandas in an environment that imitates their natural habitat. The best time to visit the sanctuary is in the morning as the pandas are most active during this time.
We first went to the toddler exhibit just as they were taken out to have breakfast. We watched them eat and munch on their bamboo for more than 30 minutes. I never knew I would be so fascinated to watch an animal eat.
Then as some of my friends were busy paying $200 to hold a panda for a minute, I watched the baby pandas. I didn't know pandas could get any cuter. They were cuter than cute. I watched one little guy (or gal) for more than 30 minutes trying to climb a bamboo stick, and maneuver its way up and down a ladder. Fascinating, right? If I were to do that no one would care, if a baby panda does it, you have a herd of paparazzi like tourist treating you like your Suri Cruise.
I wanted to make a short video of my panda experience, however I found it mighty difficult to crop all the adorable-ness....so my planned one minute video became nearly 3 1/2 minutes.
If you ever make your way to China a visit to the panda sanctuary is an absolute must. The pandas are so well taken care of, and their living spaces are clean and open. I must warn you that you will fall totally in love with them, and evidently, you must fight the desire to smuggle one of them back home with you.
Date Accomplished: March 13th, 2012
