An Appetite for Adventure

From 2009-04-29 – China – Chengdu – Pandas

Shortly after deciding to come to China, someone told me that if you visit Sichuan — the area devastated by the earthquake last year and one of China’s culturally richest — you can have the chance to hold a baby panda. Upon hearing this, I immediately culled the web for info and resolved that if there was one thing I would do while in the Red State, it would be to cuddle one of these fluffy, rolly-polly balls of love.

So when we finally booked out trip to Chengdu — a beautiful city in and of itself — the only real reason we were going was for me to finally fulfill my dream of snuggling a tiny panda.

And that I did.

Instead of visiting one of the larger, more distant panda bases, we opted for the Chengdu Breeding Research Base, a mere 8km from the city and housing around 50 pandas. We were treated to primetime views of pandas chowing down on bamboo. One of the best parts was watching the baby pandas feed. They scurry to and fro, up and down, playing with each other and the keepers. Adorable doesn’t do this show of cuteness justice.

Onto the big event: For a hefty donation — I was told it’s expensive 1) because it’s a donation and 2) in order to keep it a bit cost prohibitive and therefore keep the numbers down as the baby pandas are still fragile — I donned a sterile blue smock, booties and gloves and was taken into the back area behind the baby panda facility. The panda — whose name I so stupidly forgot to ask — was given a young bamboo shoot, the end covered in honey to create a sort of panda lollipop. This kept him busy so he would sit still for the photos; baby pandas are just as wiggly as human babies! The panda probably weighed around 25 pounds, was about 6 months old and was incredibly soft. His body slumped into my arms and I had to hold on tight to keep him upright! They are such lazy little things. At one point, he dropped his “lollipop” and lurched to retrieve it. Man, he was strong! It took a strong grip to keep him from tumbling off my lap. After about 4-5 minutes, the keeper took him back, and my brief but wonderful close encounter of the panda kind concluded.

While that was the highlight of our time in Chengdu, we also enjoyed a delicious Sichuan hotpot filled with forests of Sichuan peppercorns. When you bite into a peppercorn, the taste immediately numbs your mouth and leaves a metallic aftertaste. We also visited a nearby temple, the streets surrounding still smacking of old world China flavor.

My album:

[09.04.29] Pandas and Wenshu Temple

Sean’s album:

2009-04-29 – China – Chengdu – Pandas