In order to see any signs of life, you have to get up early. Unless you aren't interested in seeing pandas, that is.
And so it was that we were up early and driving through the rain, hoping that we might be able to see some pandas roaming around the Panda Breeding, Research and Rehabilitation Center. We'd heard of people going to visit the pandas and seeing only one the entire time they were there. But while the weather was craptacular for pretty much everything else we did in China, it was perfect for the pandas. Being giant, furry creatures, they're not big on heat, so in the cold they were running all over the place. Lucky us!
The first panda we saw was curled up asleep on a bamboo platform, because, you know, you find these in nature all the time. The next panda was in the same enclosure pacing around in a large circle, but the light was bad and he had his back to us or behind a large tree or rock much of the time, so a good photo was not forthcoming. For some reason no one got dispirited by the lack of cooperation, although we had no idea that what looked like three enclosures on the map was actually more than three and that each housed a great number of pandas.
When we got to the second enclosure there were no pandas, but there were also no other tour groups. Eventually the word came down the grapevine that this was where the sub-adult pandas (four of them!) would come and have breakfast. In their building they were voicing their displeasure at being kept from their food. Travis didn't realize that pandas make sounds and his expression when he heard them was very confused. Of course, whenever he looks confused I think he looks adorable, so I was delighted. We approached the enclosure by way of the "Nutrition Kitchen" where a man in rainclothes was hosing down stalks of bamboo. On the other side of the enclosure the man then put some bunches of bamboo in holes in the bamboo platform, making something resembling a bamboo plant. He came back with more bundles and lay them on a higher platform. I thought he was going to come back and put them in holes, too, but before long four smallish-bears came marching toward us. They plopped down unceremoniously and grabbed at the bamboo stalks. Three opted for the non-bushes, but one hid among them and was very cute, although harder to see. The three we could see easily tore their bamboo apart. The middle one, whom I silently decided was the ringleader, was the most aggressive toward the bamboo, and I thought he spent more time tearing it apart than eating it.
Before the pandas had arrived, our solitary group was suddenly attacked from both sides by other tour groups, and much of the rest of our trip was spent vying for a good place to snap the perfect photo. I didn't really want to leave the sub-adult pandas, but there were more to see, so we went to see the baby pandas. Don't get too excited. We weren't allowed to take photos of the real babies, and even those were much older than six months, although younger than 18 or they would have been outside with the other 2-year-olds.
The enclosure for young pandas was full of critters. There were at least two curled up together in a black and white fuzzball on the high platform, and one pacing on it. Travis was the first to spot the one in the tree. I had just asked how they got up there and if they really did it voluntarily since all you ever hear about is how they try so hard to conserve energy because their only food source is so non-nutritive that they have to eat massive amounts just to sustain themselves. Honestly, the more you learn about pandas, the more you wonder how they managed to survive this long. It helps that for a long, long time no one went into their habitat because there was no real need or reason to. There were still pandas living in south-western Sichuan - totally naturally - in the late 1970s, and Sichuan was the most populous province in China for much of China's more recent (and less recent, depending on how you view 200 years or so) history. Anyway, back to the tree, young pandas like to have fun and are not totally devoid of energy and like to climb trees and play on bamboo jungle-gyms.
When we finally got to the building we saw another few pandas pacing and munching on bamboo. Although we were wholly unable to identify them, we learned that the famous twin pandas of 2006 were residents of the enclosure. I don't remember their names, and I'm not totally sure why they're famous, as it's not totally uncommon for pandas to have twins. Maybe it's because they both survived infancy, which is a feat all by itself. As I was cooing over the littler babies with pretty much every other tourist in the place, Travis was outside watching the pandas play and saw one panda try to eat another panda's bamboo. He just stuck his nose right up in there. I was informed that he was told to buzz off by the other panda's paw. When I returned no one seemed too offended, however.
Our last live animal adventure was to see red pandas. One of the girls in our tour said (while we were examining the map at the entrance), "Red pandas, I don't care about them. I've seen them before." I thought to myself, I've seen a giant panda before, so why am I here? I also took this negatively because I am rather fond of red pandas. They really look like a cross between a raccoon and a cat, two animals I have a fancy for, and they're just plain cute. Their eye patches make them look rather sad, and many of the ones we saw just sat and looked at the world around them in what you could easily term a "despondent" fashion. But there was a caretaker cleaning the red panda enclosure while we were there and one of the pandas followed him around with great curiosity the entire time he was in the enclosure. As I watched the little red panda walk I remarked on the fact that, although they're about as big as a giant panda's leg, the red panda walks exactly like a giant panda, right down to its bow-legged waddle.
Next we were privileged to enjoy a biology film about pandas at the center. It was pretty much the best bio movie of all time. We all learned about pandas' lives and mating and all of that. It was really nothing new to anyone with any secondary education in biology, but then these films, unlike our bio films, actually showed scientists using artificial breeding. I think a few jaws dropped when they saw a team of scientists masturbating a grown male panda with utmost seriousness. Sorry if you find that inappropriate, but facts is facts. I think everyone's favorite part was the birthing section of the film. Apparently first-time moms have no idea what's happening to them and we saw a few screaming aliens fly in crazy directions. One mom was leaning back a bit and her baby flew up and over her before landing on the ground in a squealing pink blob. Another mom didn't know what the squealing thing was and batted at it with her paws that were about twice its size. Scientists in these instances have to run in and grab the baby from the mom to protect it. We learned that panda babies are born extremely...unformed? prematurely?...and that they are - even more so than other mammal babies - wholly reliant on their mothers. They really look like ugly little alien pig things. Gradually the black and white appears, and by six months they look like the adorable tiny panda cub that we all get weak-kneed over. Think of this - a panda baby would be only slightly longer than the palm of the average hand, and a grown giant panda is about three times the size of the average adult. Does any other animal have such a great difference in size between itself and its offspring?
The end of our trip was a tour of a seriously weird museum (what's new) and a gift shop full of all the panda goodies you could want. As we were leaving we found a human dressed up in a panda suit, and while all of my tourmates were lamenting this poor soul's job I bounced up and asked for a photo. Why not? The panda was very friendly.
In the evening we had finally reserved tickets for the Sichuan Opera. Don't be confused by the name or anything. It's really a crazy show of mixed up things. But our car was late, and ten minutes before the show started we finally walked up to the desk at the hostel and asked if the car was coming later than we were told. After a small crisis one of the staff, Jenny, bundled us into a cab and came to the opera with us. It was pretty much the spiffiest thing ever and after it Jenny said it was her third time seeing it. I said I'd be happy to see it three times in a row.
When we walked in the show had started, and it looked like an opera. Actually, I only saw the opera peripherally when we first entered. What I first saw was an audience full of digital camera screens. We were allowed to take photos, and everyone was exercising the priviledge. Then I saw the opera. There were three guys running around the stage being fierce and wearing opera masks and ridiculously tall shoes. My favorite had a wicked cool beard. Then they ran off the stage before we even realized that there were subtitles on either side of the screen. The next act appeared. I was pretty sure the guy in the opera mask this time was some kind of fierce-looking duenna, but it turned out that it was a guy who fought the other three guys and ended up losing...I think. The main part of this middle act was for beautiful women to do that dance where they wear really long sleeves and spin them around to make pretties. It was lovely, and I think I would enjoy learning this particular talent. Then a messenger came in and the fight I just mentioned occurred. And then...
The MC came out and introduced the foot juggler. At first I thought this was just a break in the greater story of the opera, for entertainment, but it wasn't. First the foot juggler played with this spinning thing related to a yo-yo. I thought to myself, that's not really juggling, and it's definitely not with feet. Then she finished with the yo-yo and put down her seat rest thing and proceeded to do some of the most amazing things I've ever seen anyone do with their feet. The absolute highlight was when she was running around the small side of a square table. You may be able to imagine someone laying on their back with their feet sticking up and bouncing a table around on them. I think it's very hard to imagine someone having enough strength and coordiation to making the table spin on its side like she's running around it. In all honesty, I think the foot juggler was my favorite of the night. You can see a video I took of her juggling her large pot.
We saw a stick puppet show in which the puppet has mechanisms that allow it to grab things. The puppet picked a flower and put it in her hair, and she played with a handkerchief, and the puppet master kept grabbing at the silly long pheasant feathers in her hat. Since you could see the puppet master and her assistants, they were all dressed super cute in pink and danced around with the puppets. In the comedy act the bossy wife made her husband do all kinds of tricks with a flaming bowl of oil. Even though she was making him do the tricks to punish him she always looked immensely worried that he would spill the bowl. Eventually he got the better of her and blew it out. I was also mesmerized by the shadow puppet show - it was set to music and the man did all kinds of things with his hands, made animals I never would have thought to make. Using his hands and his bald head he even made an owl and moved its eyes back and forth. Twas nifty.
There is a neat trick in China that is advertised in shows, but I had absolutely no idea what it was. What is face changing, and how can it be that spiffy? After a pair of fire breathing scary mask wearers took the stage, the face changers arrived. They walked around and then, with a flick of the fan or a swish of the cloak, their mask would suddenly be different. For the girls with the cloaks it was easy enough to assume that they changed their masks with a flick while their faces were behind the cloak. But it was still neat. Then, after the flame-breathing, face-changing puppet (which was rather impressive because it was a puppet), the men began to change their faces. With the fan you thought it was the same trick as with the cloak, but the fan was so small, you suddenly became unsure. Then the man popped out into the audience and greeted people, and while their hands were occupied they somehow managed to change their masks with a loud CRACK, and it was so fast you couldn't see if the mask went up or down or anywhere. How do they DO that? It was totally sweet.
Then a man in modern-traditional Chinese garb came out to sing a piece of Chinese opera, and his voice was not at all what one might expect when expecting opera. Then one remembers that one is in China. And suddenly it was curtain call and all the fun was over and the audience shuffled out into the rain. But I think everyone had a great deal of fun and a moment of childish exhuberance.
Erin
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