So, the second day we were here, we went to the Panda Research Center, which is essentially a zoo just for pandas.
We had three hours to wander around and initially we thought there was no way we could spend 3 hours at a panda zoo, but they are actually quite mesmerizing.
The grounds of the park are covered in bamboo making the paths cool and almost breezy to walk along.
It was unbelievable how close we were to the pandas. The first panda we saw hadn't been put out in her yard yet, so if it hadn't been for the glass wall, she would have rubbed against us as she walked by.
Next we wandered up to the red panda exhibit (this was especially exciting to me as one of my 2nd grade groups studied red pandas for their endangered animal project). There was a wall up to our necks that kept us apart from the red pandas and that was it. It was hard to believe they never jumped out. There were at least five of them running around. It was fun watching them play. Their playful personality was a weird mix of dog and cat-like behavior. We even saw one playing with the keeper. It could have been Georgia playing with us! It was easy to forget that they are bears.
The playful behavior ended with the red pandas. Giant pandas are impressively lazy. We watched a video and it seems their laziness is one of the reasons the research center has to work so hard just to help them reproduce.
Apparently, pandas are an ancient species who used to be ferocious hunters. They evolved into lazy animals who spend 16 hours of their day eating bamboo!
I asked Matt if he was a panda, would he rather be the ferocious kind or the easy life kind we were seeing. Matt said he'd definitely be the ferocious kind otherwise he'd be bored. Not me. I could definitely spend my life lying under a tree, eating.
We saw pandas of all ages lying and eating. We went through the nurseries and saw adorable baby pandas. We saw older cubs outside. One was having a grand old time with his bamboo (he was not a lazy eater). Another we came upon just lounging up in the branches. Her friend was waiting below the tree. After a few minutes the first one climbed down and the second one climbed up! We got it on video. I may have watched that more than once.
Generally, when it comes to animals, I can take them or leave them. But pandas... They're pretty amazing. It was hard not to pay the 2000 yuan to hold one!
The next day we decided to try the metro and headed to the People's Park. The park has had some political importance in the city's history, but today serves as a community center. I read that people come here for music and dance, so I was hoping we might catch a show.
Well, yet again, it was out of control. We certainly caught a music show. We caught several right next to each other (as in the stages could not have been more than 30 feet apart). The volume of everything in China is just higher than we are used to. So, when you combine that with musical performances competing for airwaves.... Out of control.
We literally walked from one performance to the next still hearing the music three stages back. We saw karaoke, community dance performances and senior citizen jazzercise one right after the other.
Matt appropriately called it musical pandemonium. So perfect.
Oh, China. We will never forget you.
