Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China 09.04

We arrived in Chengdu quite late, but were thrilled by the hotel that we were to stay at! The lobby was enormous and there was a huge staircase leading to the next level. There were sheets of chiffon artistically hanging from the ceiling in waves. The hotel also boasted a bar with karaoke, a sauna and several boutiques and salons.

Panda Breeding Centre
The next morning we excitedly prepared for our day's activity - visiting the Panda breeding centre! This was why we chose this particular tour, because Loren desperately wanted to see the pandas. We were not disappointed!

As soon as we entered the centre we began to spot pandas amongst the trees. At first we saw them in the distance, then we found some enclosures where we could get quite close to them. They were so cute! Apparently the bamboo that they eat reacts with their digestive system in a way that makes them almost drunk. So they're active in the morning, but then they're drunk, clumsy and sleepy in the afternoon.

Apparently a pretty rare occurrence for pandas - the females are extremely picky about their mates.

Some of the big pandas were wandering around looking for something to munch on or drink. One panda was already asleep on his back, another climbed a tree and chilled out there for a while. He looked so fat and funny sitting up the skinny tree! They're actually quite large animals.

Next they took us to where the baby pandas lived. I can't tell you how incredibly adorable they were. They were even more clumsy than the adults and they just tumbled and played with each other. Some tried climbing a rope swing, and when one was finished, he just walked right off the bottom edge and tumbled onto his back, where he lay quite contentedly, batting at the swing with his paws. Another one climbed the stairs and slid down the slippery-slide. While they were eating, they lay on their backs chewing lazily. So cute!
After we saw the baby pandas, Loren got the chance to cuddle a panda. It was quite expensive, but it was the one thing she most wanted to do in China. The panda was so cuddly and soft! He was so happy just sitting there chewing his bamboo, while she gave him a hug. We got lots of photos, and it was well worth the experience.
Then they took us to see the Red Pandas. They kind of look like a mix between a racoon, a fox and a cat. They have a big fluffy tail and copper coloured fur. They were definitely not as cute as the Giant Pandas but we still loved watching them.

Lunch at the Monastery

After seeing the pandas, we went to visit a monastery which served vegetarian food that you seriously struggled to believe wasn't meat. They made food like squid and stir fried pork. It was delicious, and so realistic! We wandered through the monastery grounds after our lunch, and saw a turtle pond. When people want good luck, they buy turtles from the market which are going to be killed for food, and release them into the pond. Loren really wanted to do it when she heard about it, but when she saw how full the pond was and how dirty the water was, she changed her mind. It was probably better to leave the turtle to its fate rather than prolong its life in bad conditions.
We also visited a traditional Chinese tea house while we were in the monastery grounds. The place was filled with retired people playing mahjong, chinese chess and other games. It was a very unique atmosphere, very relaxed.

Apparently it's bad luck to show your tea leaves to anyone else, but the jasmine flowers were so pretty :)

That evening, our assistant tour guide Amy brought her parents and grandmother along for dinner. We ate at a traditional Sichuan hot-pot place. A big pot of stock is place in the middle of a table with a hole in it. The stock boils in the pot above a flame. The pot is divided into a spicy section and a mild section. You put different meats and vegetables and noodles in the water and cook them to your satisfaction. As the meal went on, the stock got hotter, as the chillies soaked into the water. Our mouths were burning by the end of it from the heat of the stock and the power of the chillies.

The Chinese Culture Show
After this we went to see a traditional Culture Show. In the show, we watched many forms of traditional music, puppet dolls,


singing, dancing, and acrobatics, even shadow puppets!A disfunctional couple performed a comedy sketch showing a man overpowered or 'hen-pecked' by his wife. The ratio of women to men is quite small in China - 4 guys to every girl. The power that this gives women over men in China is demonstrated in their relationship.

One trick that the fire-eaters performed was to switch masks without touching their faces. Sometimes they change masks up to 8 times! We think they might have had strings attached in their sleeves, and that the next mask was waiting to be pulled down from under their hat.

There were two girls who impressed us the most out of all the acts. In their act, they'd lie on their backs and people would put things like barrels and medium sized tables on their feet, and they'd spin them in circles around and around in all directions. They also tossed them into the air and caught them again. Quite incredible!

Partying in Chengdu!
We went out with a couple of people from the group and Mattieu our guide. We went to a local bar where we saw a band playing Chinese songs and later some English songs. We were stared at like celebrities, and Jessica was invited to get up on stage and perform a song with the piano player.

Yep, good times :)