Pandas! Chengdu Breeding Center

More details to come later...
One of the highlights of Chengdu is the pandas endemic to the region. The city is characterized by pandas on the taxis (as opposed to pandas IN the taxis), panda monuments, teams being named the pandas (or 'black and whites' - the name of Kelly's rugby team), etc. So, I arranged a trip with the local hostel to go to the panda breeding center just outside of town for a chance to see the beautiful animals. We arrived early in the morning, right around feeding time, the only time when these lazy balls of fur seem to do anything. Actually, like koalas, they get very little nutrition from their diet, so most of their lives are spent either eating or sleeping. At the end of the tour, I, along with two very friendly Aussies (side note: based on my experiences, Aussies almost always tend to be a lot of fun to travel with), decided to pay an additional $60 to hug a panda. Though it's only about 60 seconds, being able to wrap my arms around the one or two year old panda was certainly worth it. The panda, probably just a bit smaller than me, just sat on a bench, satiated with his bamboo while Shane, Zorka and I took turns hugging him and smiling for the pictures. We also had to wear little booties over our shoes and a plastic glove on one hand to protect the pandas from our germs. At the end of the tour, we finished off the visit with some red pandas, the forgotten cousin that looks more like a raccoon. We also tried to hold one of those, but there were not enough workers to allow us to do that. Oh, and we saw the incubation rooms and cribs with six or eight cubs, lying around, stretching and looking really cute, though you're not allowed to take pictures of them. I tried to get them to sign a consent form to let me, but the pandas wouldn't budge. Tough break.

(Just barely awake enough to do some scratching.)

(Ehhhh.)

(This first set of three pandas happily munched away on the fresh bamboo as we watched from just about 20 feet away, separated by a moat.)

(Either sitting up or laying on their backs, they don't really move much, just reaching for the next stalk of bamboo, with the remains often strewn over their stomachs.)

(Demonstrating the masterful technique of breaking the bamboo in half for more manageable pieces. Pandas have actually developed a pseudo-thumb to allow them to hold the bamboo in an almost human-like way...you know, all the times that humans hold bamboo.)

(I call him Smiley. After taking so many pictures of him, he calls me Annoying.)

(Woah, he's making a move. Don't worry, he didn't get very far. Maybe just brushing off some stalks of used bamboo.)

(I could make this into a motivational poster with the caption "Hang in There." I'd be rich. What's plagiarism?)

(The keeper came up with a wheelbarrow full of fresh bamboo, inciting these two to get up and get closer to the food. Most of the pandas we saw were probably 2-5 years old.)

(These two were fighting/playing up in the trees when they smelled the fresh food and decided it was time to come down.)

(Front and center, the four of them posed for pictures from their ever-growing group of adoring fans. Luckily our tour was organized so we saw the feedings, yet we left just as the large groups arrived at each pen.)

(Check out the one at the top right making the move for a steal. I guess the one in the other's hand is much tastier than any of the other hundreds of stalks on the ground next to him.)

(I'll lean up against you, and you lean up against me, and neither of us will have to sleep in the mud. Again, plagiarism means nothing to me.)

(60 seconds of joy. It actually looks like he's offering me a piece of his bamboo here. I guess I was rude not to accept it.)

(There we are again, though he doesn't even seem to know that I'm still there. That's ok, it happens a lot to me.)