Pandamonium

Read any guide to Chengdu and you'll undoubtedly hear about the Panda Breeding Research Centre. The Panda, being China's national animal, is one of the main reasons to visit Chengdu. In the research centre they attempt to breed pandas in captivity, whilst in the wilds of north Sichuan (and in neighbouring provinces) the very few number of pandas that still live in the wild can be found.

Tourists, of course, can visit the research centre to see this symbol of China. While I hate being labelled with the term 'tourist' (I'm a traveller, or adventurer if you will), this was still something I couldn't miss.



Touring the centre on the morning of St. Patrick's Day (no they didn't paint the pandas green), this was the first time I had seen pandas in the flesh. My first impression was that they look like a man in a suit trying to eat bamboo and convince tourists that this was actually a type of animal. Slouched down, Al Bundy style, munching away, they truly appear as the lazy slouch of the animal kingdom.
Eating nothing but bamboo, the tree has so little nutritional value that they have to eat it for sixteen hours a day to get enough energy to survive (they sleep for the rest of the day).



The highlight and provider of the most comedy value in the complex are the baby pandas. Standing by the pen, we watched as the staff attempted to feed the cubs with what was essentially an oversized baby bottle. Not one of them was interested in having a bottle stuffed in their mouths, meaning hilarious games of cat and mouse between the cubs and the feeders ensued.

Satisfied that I had seen something you don't see everyday, it was time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.