Chengdu Hotels
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Xi'an to Chengdu
Entry 13 of 63 | show all | print this entry |
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Chengdu - Mix Hostel
The flight to Chengdu was very good and very quick. One hour to get there as opposed to the alternative option, which was an 18 hour train journey. I think we have done enough train travelling in China for the moment. Again, we decided to travel with Rene and Mariska.
We arrived at the airport at 9pm - again we had arranged a pick up through the hostel from the airport. The smiling Chinese lady greeted us and then told us there was a problem. She phoned a number on her mobile, spoke for a couple of minutes then passed the phone to Nic. Nic was then informed by a lady on the other end that the driver had a stomach ache and we had to wait. First question was how did Smiling Chinese lady get to the airport and second who was they guy in the van 20 metres away from us, where Smiling Lady was now stood and why did it look like he was being arrested? Basically English lady on phone told us a huge porky pie and the driver didn't really have a stomach ache, he had a pain in the neck in the shape of a copper!!
Anyway, after about 30 minutes wait, the policeman went away and Smiling Lady came over and we got in the van with the driver who had obviously escaped arrest. We still don't know what he did and we never got an explanation.
We spent our first day in Chengdu finding our feet and learning what is available and what sights to see. First on our list was the Chengdu Giant Panda Research and Breeding Centre. Sichuan is where most Pandas live in their natural habitat and is therefore the perfect place for a research centre. There are something like 1500 (hope I got that right) Pandas in their natural habitat and nearly 200 hundred in captivity. Pandas are now so endangered that any poaching or killing of them results in life imprisonment or even execution!! Remember that next time you are thinking of killing a Panda.
We headed off nice and early to the centre as this is when the pandas are the most active. Not long in we came across our first sighting of the panda and they are so so cute and interestingly enough very human like in their movements. We were convinced that there was someone in a big bear suit sitting there pretending to eat bamboo.
The centre also actively breeds pandas and we were very fortunate to see in the nursery two new born pandas, only a couple of days old. They are so small and pink that you would never believe that they grew in to these huge black and white bears. They were in incubators as they are very delicate in the early stages. Also there was another cub approx 3 weeks old that had turned black and white and was so so so cute. We tried to put it our pocket but the thick security glass and armed guard prevented us from doing so.
There are quite a few enclosures to see the adult pandas and as it was still early in the morning we were fortunate to see quite a few mooching around, eating and posing for cameras. They really are beautiful creatures and we are very lucky to have seen them.
At the end we watched an educational film in the centre about the work they do and we learnt some very interesting - and slightly amusing - facts about these animals.
For starters, the Giant Panda finds it very difficult to mate in captivity (obviously doesn't like performing to an audience). So to get it in the mood the scientists show them rudey films of other pandas. Genuinely this is true!
Also the panda has a very easy labour. As they are naturally fat and round it is difficult to tell if they are pregnant. They showed footage of a Panda giving birth and literally this bear was walking around and all of a sudden POP! out flew a baby panda. This totally takes the panda by surprise and freaks it out. Because the panda is unnerved it starts to knock the new born about with its giant paw trying to work out what the hell happened. However, if the panda has a second birth it is a very different experience - they really nurture the baby during the birth and take very good care of it.
All in all it was a fascinating morning and we are now experts on pandas.
The next day (5th August) we went to see the Giant Buddha in Leshan. As all Buddha statues claim to be the biggest or largest or weirdest we were sceptical but this one is genuinely the largest Buddha in the world at 233 feet - HUGE. It is carved into the cliff at the merging point of three rivers and was initiated by a monk in 733 AD to watch over the ships at this difficult passage of their journey.
You arrive at the top of the Buddha and to get to the bottom you have to walk down a very steep and very rickety staircase that is on the side of the cliff. Very precarious and pretty scary. Particularly as at the bottom there is a fast flowing river. Pat did not like this AT ALL!! Because of the amount of people visiting, the queues down the staircase were horrendous and what should have taken 5 minutes to get down took about an hour!!
Anyway, it was all worth it and at the bottom you got a real perspective of how big he is and the effort that must have gone into it.
The climb back wasn't much better but was a little less daunting.
Our plans for the next few days are to spend more time in Chengdu as we both really like it here and there is so much to see and do. We will head down to Emei Shan for the beautiful mountains. Also we are planning a bike tour for a few days into the hills. There is a company called Bike China (www.bikechina.com) that are based in Chengdu and we have already made contact with them and will hopefully sort something with them.
We then hope to move to Yangshou in the south east before going to Hainan in the south (known as the Chinese Hawaii) before we cross into Vietnam and Cambodia. This is the plan at the moment but as you have probably guesses our plans are always subject to change.
Latest Comments (11)View all comments
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only one panda (reply)
Aug 22, 2007 15:43 EST by deefer
Please ignore all your friends requests for Pandas, because lets be realistic you will have room for one panda only (factoring in the amount of bamboo needed)and I did ask first! anyway if you tried to take more than one there would be panda-monium! get it ha ha ha.
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Hi (reply)
Aug 17, 2007 06:26 EST by redmalc
Pat, The pics and storys are great, I'm envious of you too! Glad your enjoying it all, If you can get a panda, I'll have 1 too!
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Howzit? (reply)
Aug 14, 2007 16:54 EST by nickihague
Loving your work guys... photos are fab!
Comforted by the birthing experiences of the panda - here's hoping!! It's a girl by the way :-)
Cambodia's awesome - enjoy! x
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hows our babysitter??? (reply)
Aug 12, 2007 13:52 EST by osca
Hi, spent most of the day reading about your adventures and admiring that wonderful world we all take for granted,hope all is well.Julie ,Tony Mattia and Alex
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Eyup (reply)
Aug 10, 2007 10:59 EST by pierrelepont
Not sure if you got my e-mail or not Pat so I'll re-produce it here by kind permision of TravelPod:
Hi Pat,
No wonder you didn't want me to know the name of the village in Lincolnshire where you used to live. 'Norton Disney' - what kind of Mickey Mouse name is that ?? hahahha.
Anyway - just read that you went to another Disneyland, albeit about 6,000 miles away and probably a... show all
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Panda car (reply)
Aug 9, 2007 16:35 EST by ridders
just thinking of you,sat watching big bro,and they have got a task which includes eating a complete table full of CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway you two sounds like your having a wicked time,pics are good pal,like the man bag you wear.P.S get some new clothes you two. 6 weeks this saturday to the big day..blogg too you soon.
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Panda car (reply)
Aug 9, 2007 16:34 EST by ridders
just thinking of you,sat watching big bro,and they have got a task which includes eating a complete table full of CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway you two sounds like your having a wicked time,pics are good pal,like the man bag you wear.P.S get some new clothes you two. 6 weeks this saturday to the big day..blogg too you soon.
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panda (reply)
Aug 9, 2007 08:03 EST by deefer
Please please bring back a baby panda. We will swap it for a guinea pig which I'm sure are very nice barbequed. Glad you were amazed by the very supple chinese child acrobats. Did you ask anyone how they got that way? Looking forward to reading your next instalment.
p.s That thing with the panda birth happened to a girl at clifton comp. do you remember? she was round and fat. Went on a school ... show all
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panda (reply)
Aug 9, 2007 08:03 EST by deefer
Please please bring back a baby panda. We will swap it for a guinea pig which I'm sure are very nice barbequed. Glad you were amazed by the very supple chinese child acrobats. Did you ask anyone how they got that way? Looking forward to reading your next instalment.
p.s That thing with the panda birth happened to a girl at clifton comp. do you remember? she was round and fat. Went on a school ... show all
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Globe Trotters & China's bad habits (reply)
Aug 7, 2007 03:15 EST by clarina70
Hello you two....loving the updates from you. I expect whoever wrote those entries yesterday had RSI by dinner time!!
Saw this on BBC news website and I thought Nic particularly would appreciate it! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6927361.stm
Lots of love and hugs to you both - we miss our best buds xx
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