This morning my stomach was still not in the mood for breakfast, so I just had dry cereal again, but afterwards I had some weak green tea and it seemed to help.
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| Panda! |
We left early for Chengdu Panda Research Centre, and not far into our walk around the place, we found our first Panda having breakfast! Yey! My first Panda!!
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| Panda! |
We walked around several enclosures which were HUGE and simulated the natural environment of the Panda really well. We saw lots of Pandas, eating, sleeping, up trees and pottering about. The weather was fortunate for us – it had rained first thing this morning and the air was cool – which was great for Pandas, as they don’t like the heat. We also saw some Red Pandas which were very cute, and there were quite a few of them running around. We learnt that the wild Panda population in China is around 1,600 and is increasing, but they are still seriously endangered animals. They have around 80 Pandas in this reserve, and I think after they have managed to raise 300 in captivity here, they will begin to release them into the wild.
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| Panda cuddling |
Eventually we reached the point I had been waiting for – the Panda hug! Unfortunately Mathew couldn’t go in with me to see me cuddling the Panda cub, but it was a brilliant experience! I had to put on some gloves, shoe covers and an apron. We went into a room which was like a conservatory where we sat down on a wooden bench and the Panda cub was put in our lap. He was a BIG cub! Heavy too – he sat on my lap eating watermelon as one of the staff took photos with my own camera! Actually, I was holding one of his paws - as soon as I picked up his paw he curled it around my hand, it was SO cute!!! He was very soft and cuddly, just like a teddy bear. He was 7 months old and his name was Shu Qin. I only held him for a short time, around a minute or less than that even, but the assistants were very good, taking photos and making sure the Panda had something to nibble on for the photo. After the hug, I was given a souvenir of a mouse mat with Panda cubs on, and a “Certificate of Love”, and I came out of the building to discover I had 12 photos of me with a Panda cub in my lap! Yey!
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| Red Panda |
After looking at more Pandas, I had been into some of the small shops and bought a few little things – charms, postcards and of course, a cuddly Panda! I named him Shu Qin, and then I thought in true Chinese style, I would also give him an English name, so I called him Pumpkin.
We then had lunch at the “Panda Coffee House” where I decided to have sandwiches instead of rice, which I think is what my stomach really needed. They were very nice ham, cheese, tomato and lettuce sandwiches, followed by a plate of fruit. I also decided to buy myself a hot chocolate – the first of this holiday. It was GOOD! Although I wasn’t too sure about their method which seemed to be using chocolate sauce from a bottle... Anyway, for the first time in 3 days, my stomach felt full, almost bloated, and very very happy indeed.
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| The Panda I smuggled home :) |
We walked around to the exit, where we stopped at the gift shop and I bought a wall hanging with a Panda painting which I thought Dad would like. Now I had to get something for Mark and Shaun and I was done with the souvenirs! Oh yes, and Tony dressed Mathew up in a Panda hat and gloves, and tried to charge everyone for having a photo taken with a Panda. Yes, THAT photo is going in the slideshow!
Next, we went back to the hotel. We had a free afternoon but we were quite tired, so we spent much of it re-packing our suitcases for the train – no liquid in the check-in luggage and no limit on the carry on luggage. Many people seemed to be confused about this, but I don’t understand what they didn’t get about “NO LIQUID”...!
We took a walk outside and bought extra snacks and drinks for our journey tomorrow night. Also, as Jane had mentioned about bags being broken into – even padlocked ones – I decided to pack all my souvenirs in my new rucksack which I had bought off a market the other day. They seemed to fit nicely, and some fit into Mathew’s bag too. I put underwear into the front pockets of the suitcase (HA! Steal that!) and I packed the few items of clothing I valued the least on the top inside. Hopefully my suitcase would survive the journey!
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| Birthday Cake! |
Next, we went for dinner and discovered it was Elizabeth’s birthday as Jane appeared with a HUGE cream cake as ‘Happy Birthday’ was blasting out from some huge speakers either side of the stage which we just happened to be seated next to! The cake was shared around us all, and turned out to be very light sponge cake covered with LOTS of cream. Yum!
We went back to the hotel briefly where I ran up to our room and quickly wrote a birthday message on one of my Panda postcards to give to Elizabeth. We then went to see a show which turned out to be quite a mixture of things – in order:
1. An auction (!)
2. A band playing instrumental
3. A mini traditional Sichuan opera
4. A musician playing the Ehru, which was fantastic (played vertically, sounds like a violin)
5. Random dancing ladies
6. Oil lamp comedy
7. Puppet show
8. Hand shadow show
9. Mask changing and fire-breathing
10. Mini opera to end
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| Sichuan Opera |
The mask changing was fantastic – so quick and at first they covered their faces with a cape or a fan briefly but as the show went on, just a flick of the head was all they did and the mask changed. The masks were fine painted silk which seemed to retract into their hats, but they were SO fast. They even came down into the audience and changed their faces right in front of us! Plus, two of the people on stage actually changed their entire outfit just as quickly.
We returned to the hotel where I wrote my journal and finished my packing. Tomorrow we would send our suitcases off and we wouldn’t see them again until the following afternoon the next day. I had a bag of gifts, my rucksack, my shoulder bag, one bag of clothes and toiletries, and one bag of food. Jane said she would give us some breakfast muffins, but we could always hang on to the food for the second train journey. We had lots of liquid too, which was the only heavy thing.
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