Chengdu - Pandas

We're basically going here because it's one of only two cities that fly into Lijiang and it's conveniently located between Xian and Lijiang, more or less. So while we're here, we'll visit the Panda Reserve where they have a captive breeding program. So far, only one panda was released into the wild and it died within the first year. They charge $150 to hold a baby panda for 3 minutes. This is how they fund their programs and keep the reserve open. We'll see whether or not we decide to fork over the money.

We arrived in Chengdu in more freezing cold rain but were thrilled to see a representative from Sim's Cozy Garden Guesthouse waiting for us at the airport exit. Chengdu is a huge sprawling city in Sichuan province and it took almost an hour to get here in evening traffic. Because many domestic flights in China take off in the evenings, a lot of people were checking in and out at 8:30pm. Sim's is a fun, very unique hostel that is equipped to serve budget travellers and families with kids. You feel like you are staying in a tree-house right in the center of a city block.

They have a DVD library with just about every pirated movie ever made, and a book exchange, travel information center, and lots of tours to remote areas, restaurant, bar, ping pong room and many lounge areas equipped with free Wi-fi and computer terminals. I'm starting to get used to logging in on computers that are all in Chinese Characters.

In response to helpful posts on Tripadvisor we wanted to get to the Panda Reserve without a tour. So at 7:00am we were on the street hailing a cab and got one in less than one minute. Fearing traffic and a disappointed teenager, we wanted to get there early. Apparently once the pandas have been fed (8:30) they go right to sleep for the rest of the day.

We arrived at the gates by 7:18 in the cool, damp drizzle. About 7:45 a ticket lady came and we went in. We were the first ones there and enjoyed wandering around having the place to ourselves.
This Panda Reserve is where they do captive breeding and research. The park is quite lovely and peaceful, set up like a nature center.

At this time there are no babies in incubators. There were two sets of twins born last May and July, and they were adorable to watch. They were adopted by Jackie Chan and Coca-Cola to help fund their care so we saw photos of Jackie Chan with the babies. In the infant nursery here were also a few that were born the previous year who were sitting outside munching.

We observed the way they broke the bamboo and munched on it. In the quite crowd-less morning hour we the only sounds we heard were peacocks and other birds chirping and the pandas munching.
At about 9:30 the 4 little ones were fed bottles and that lasted no longer than 3 minutes so if you happened to take a walk around another building while you are waiting, you can easily miss it.

It wasn't very crowded this Tuesday morning and only a few people opted to hold the panda. Ariela was THRILLED to do it and I think it's one of those things where the money is well-spent. It cost 1000RMB. Bystanders are not allowed to watch. Ariela had to wear blue platic protective covering and went inside by herself with both her still camera and video. The staff did a good job of taking the photos and video with our cameras and Ariela was beaming from ear to ear when she came out.
The grounds had a variety of tea houses, cafes and restaurants that looked nice but due to the cold rain, we decided not to stay. The park was peaceful and quiet and we enjoyed the bamboo lined pathways and birds calling, fish in the pond, and friendly school children wanting to shake our hands and say hello.

There were a few taxis waiting by the entrance when we were ready to leave (11:30). Two drivers wanted to bargain, starting at 40 RMB, but there was another guy sitting in his cab and I just pointed to his meter, he shook his head, and we climbed in. The return ride was 23 RMB and took about 1/2 hour.
I was happy that we didn't go on a tour and that we were able to wander around at our own pace. It is not always clear whether or not it's possible to do this, in a country where English is limited and most travellers stick with groups.

We came back to the guest house and crashed for a few hours after figuring out how to get the heater working. It operates by remote control and the characters are all in Chinese. Since our flight for Lijiang doesn't leave until 9:00pm we were able to pay for an extra 1/2 day rate ($14) to stay in our room. If the weather were better we would have been happy to sit in the bamboo garden by the fountains but the humid chill has really settled in my bones and I am thrilled to be in this nice big bed drinking tea and keeping up to date on my site.

We are all looking forward to slowing down at our next destination - Lijiang. We have been moving at a quick pace and can't wait to be out of cities, in mountain air, and hopefully warmer weather!!