4ever Discovering
Chengdu: Not Just Your Everyday Panda Trip
We Came For the Pandas, and Stayed For the Cuteness
Our next city on our China adventure was Chengdu. It is located in the Sichuan province and is known for its spicy food and PANDAS. That’s right, Emily and I made sure we came all the way here to see the infamous giant pandas. These animals are iconic in China, and are indeed endangered. Every country has their national animal; it is what represents them. When you think of Canada, you probably think of the beaver; when you think of Australia, you may think of koala bears; and when you think of China, pandas come to mind. At first, Emily and I weren’t planning on making a stop in Chengdu; however, once we caught wind of the pandas and thought about how cute they would be, we made sure to pencil in some time here. I mean, not everyone can say they have seen the giant pandas in China. It was one of those bucket list things we knew we had to do. So away we went.
When we arrived at our hostel, we quickly made sure to inquire about the pandas and how we could see them. Visiting the Panda Research Base is one of the top tourist attractions in Chengdu, so we knew we would be able to find out more information once we got there. The hostel actually offered a half day tour to the Research Base; however, we were crunched for time and wanted to leave even earlier than the tour. The great thing about China is how cheap the taxis are; the bad thing is, they don’t use the meter. You have to negotiate a price with the driver beforehand, and then hope they are honest enough to take you where you need to go. Thankfully the hostel was good at telling us how much we should be paying for a taxi so we didn’t fall for the ‘foreigner price’ (a.k.a. rip-off city). Emily and I hopped in a cab at 7:30 am and made our way to the Panda Research Base.
We were told ahead of time that the best time to see the pandas was during the morning. Pandas are rather lazy animals; they are most active between 8:00-11:30 am, and spend the rest of their day sleeping. Quite the life if you ask me. Emily and I made sure to get there early enough to see the pandas when they were active; however, we were not told that their idea of being active was to eat. I’m not complaining or anything; I just thought it was hilarious that their ‘activity’ was eating for 4 hours then sleeping. They are interesting little guys, that’s for sure.
When we arrived at the base, we went right to the panda cub area to catch their feeding time. We were actually a little too early (that never happens with us), so we got to walk around a little before the little guys came outside. When we saw the cubs eating, it was absolutely priceless. There was so much bamboo to eat, but they all liked to try to eat the same one. The cubs were rolling over each other, trying to eat as much as they could. Overall, there were about 6 panda cubs, all sitting back, and taking their time to eat their breakfast.
Fun Fact: 99% of a panda’s diet consists of bamboo. Although they are omnivores, pandas prefer to eat bamboo, and can consume up to 44 lbs of it daily. You may wonder how they are able to eat so much? Well, me too; pandas eat for 16 hours every day and try to move as little as possible to conserve more energy. They need all the energy they can get to eat more. Pandas also have extra digits on their hands that act as thumbs to help them tear the bamboo. I think it’s safe to say I have finally found my spirit animal! I always knew I loved to eat, but I don’t know if I could do it for 16 hours daily.
After seeing the playful cubs, Emily and I saw the red pandas, who looked like half bears-half foxes. These little guys were a lot more active than the cubs; I could barely get a picture of them because they were running around so much. We saw a lot of the red pandas hiding in the trees; pandas have retractable claws to help them climb. It’s hard to imagine a giant panda climbing a tree, but believe me, they do. These sneaky guys like to hide from their predators, and of course climb the trees to find more food!
I think the most surprising thing of all was the size of the giant pandas. When we finally made it to them, they weren’t as ‘giant’ as I thought they would be. I don’t really know what I was expecting; I just thought they would be bigger for some reason. Don’t get me wrong, these pandas were still huge. Emily and I saw the mother pandas first; they spent their day leaning against a tree, munching away on their bamboo shoots. They looked so relaxed, it was hilarious. Afterwards, we saw the ‘teen’ pandas (they were translated to sub-adults), and they looked just a little smaller than the mothers. Overall, there were 4 different enclosures with different ages of pandas. Although they mostly just ate, they were still adorable and totally worth the time to go see. This Research Base is known for breeding giant pandas; they are trying to keep them from extinction. In the Sichuan area, there are only about 2,000 giant pandas left in the mountain regions. With the help of the Chengdu Research Base, they have been able to breed over 120 pandas. This base originally started with just 6 pandas, and has grown immensely over the years.
Our trip to the panda centre really opened my eyes to how important it is to be educated about endangered animals. Every animal is vital to our earth, and plays a role in keeping our vegetation alive. Without pandas, China would lose the growth of their bamboo forests. Although they eat a lot of it, pandas spread the bamboo seeds and help with the growth of vegetation. These animals are not only cute; they are key parts to the Chinese culture. I think our trip to the Chengdu Research Base was definitely worthwhile and educational. They had a museum at the entrance of the park where you could learn all about the pandas and interesting facts. Emily and I didn’t get the chance to hold the baby pandas; however, we were pretty close to all of their ‘lively’ eating activities.