Day 182: Chengdu
No visit to China would be complete without seeing pandas, so Igor scheduled a 24hr layover in Chengdu so that we could visit the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base. Touted as a “wildlife reserve,” make no mistake – this place is a zoo. I don’t mean it’s overrun with tourists (comparatively speaking, this is one of the more manageable crowds we’ve experienced in China), I mean this place is where one goes to see captive pandas on display. Now, this might be a let-down for people who want to see wild animals, but as I’ve said before, we LOVE zoos, and had no illusions about what to expect before visiting.
Since our flight from Zhangjiajie landed at 11AM, we knew we would miss the best time of day to see the Giant Pandas (first thing in the morning, when they are the most active), but we took a taxi straight to the Panda Center with all our luggage anyways. Luckily, the Panda Center has free luggage storage services, so we were able to run around the park in comfort. And even though our visit corresponded with the sunniest and hottest part of the afternoon, we were lucky enough to see four very active Giant Pandas (when I say “very active,” I don’t mean they were doing cartwheels or anything, but they were sitting up and eating – apparently that’s really all you can expect them to do). We also saw a several *adorable* sleeping baby pandas (you have to get here at their 9:30AM feeding time if you want to see they playing) as well as some foxy Red Pandas. All in all, a very satisfying Chinese attraction – Recommended!
We arrive at the Zhangjiajie Airport at 7AM – 2.5hr before our flight – only to find the ticket counter isn’t even open yet! At least we’ll be the first ones in line…
We’re here to see pandas and chew bubblegum…and we’re all out of bubblegum…
We see a huge crowd with their mobile phones out – I think it’s safe to assume there’s a panda over there!
Eating and sleeping – what pandas do best
Igor rolls his eyes at the great wall of mobile phones – although, to be fair, this park was one of the least frustrating attractions we have visited in China. We suspect the visitors were more acculturated city-folk verses mainland “country-bumpkins”. True, there were crowds and lots of cell phones, but people were much more courteous about letting others take a turn with their camera, and no one pushed or cut in line all day!
BABY PANDAS! OMG, CUTE CUTE CUTE!
The raccoon-like Red Pandas – not really related to Giant Pandas, but they sure are cute!
Strolling the bamboo-shaded paths at the Chengdu Panda Research Base
The look of sheer bliss on this guy’s face as he chows down on a stick of bamboo is just precious. When he finishes the sticks in his hand, he starts frantically searching through his pile of bamboo, looking for another tasty snack – Who’s a hungry panda? You’re a hungry panda!
The park has a large population of raggedly-looking peacocks running around – we feel so bad for them as they are clearly harassed by all the local tourists who pull out their tail feathers for souvenirs
A flock of surprisingly friendly black swans swims in the “Swan Lake” – they seem jealous of all the attention and food the tourists give to the koi – they just want a little love!
Panda sperm! This facility is all about Giant Panda reproduction, and trying to bring the population back from the edge of extinction through breeding in captivity
China LOVES Kung Fu Panda – his image is EVERYWHERE: buckets of ramen, the sides of buses, and – of course! – at the Panda Research Center! Somehow, I doubt DreamWorks has approved the image licensing for these statues…but then, China doesn’t seem to care about American copyright laws
We spent a few hours at the Panda Center before catching a taxi to our hotel – a really cute place with staff that spoke *fantastic* English! Since we had an early flight the next morning, we pre-booked a car to take us to the airport in the morning, and called it an early night.
The Wenjun Mansion Hotel is so quaint – an old-fashioned (but newly renovated) building surrounding a courtyard in an “old-city” style neighborhood of Chengdu
Still boycotting “exotic” foods, we have a safe (and tasty!) dinner at Pizza Hut – which is surprisingly swanky: they even had a wine list!
The brightly-lit, walkable “old-Chengdu” neighborhood of Qintai Road – we didn’t expect to like Chengdu this much, but this city is really enjoyable! Wishing we had another day or two to explore
“Dance-aerobics” and a Chinese opera house in the Chengdu Culture Park
Walking by the Sanhua Tower during our evening stroll in Chengdu
Returning to the charming Wenjun Mansion Hotel – as much fun as Chengdu is, we have an early flight in the morning