Chengdu, China is an enormous city, the capital of Sichuan Province, with over 22 million people. There are countless things to do, places to see, sites to explore.
But the main reason people from China and all over the world go there is PANDAS! It’s the panda center of the Universe, with a number of panda viewing/education/research centers, established to give these lovely creatures a comfortable home, an accommodating natural environment for them to live, thrive, mate, and for us curious creatures — you and I — to watch and enjoy.
Though we were only in Chengdu for a week, we spent two days with the pandas. The first day was at Panda Valley, which is 1 1/2 hours outside of town by taxi. Get this! The fair was only about $16. Besides being a spectacularly beautiful place, the big advantage of Panda Valley was that it wasn’t very crowded. The pandas were all outdoors and fairly active.
The second day we went to The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. It is within the city limits and was unbelievably crowded. It was especially hot — 37º C / 98º F — so most of the pandas were indoors, in huge pavilions with spacious areas for the pandas to eat, sleep, play. Unlike with most zoos, I didn’t get the impression that the pandas were “caged” or unkindly confined.
The giant pandas — black and white and big — are what first comes to mind with most folks. But there is a smaller breed called red pandas. We saw a few of those as well.
Pandas, despite their imposing bulk — adult males can be over 180 cm (6 feet) long and weigh 100 kg (220 lbs) — are not normally dangerous to human beings. Unless, of course, you threaten their cubs. Like most animals they’re very protective of their young. Pandas will not eat you, unless you’re made of bamboo.
In their own chubby sort of way, pandas are very graceful. I find them great fun to watch. They are a rather leisurely species.
Pandas sleep a lot, a don’t appear to be stressed. I assume that’s the big advantage of not watching to news or being on social media. I’m not aware of a panda being doxed, the target of malicious rumors, arrested for controversial Facebook postings, or getting hooked on antidepressants.
Maybe it’s time for us to take some lessons from these lovely creatures. Anyone up for starting a new religion? The Panda Bamboo Church of Perpetual Peace?
