Iconically Chinese: Seeing the Cutest Chinese Ambassadors
A big panda bear licking his lips.
Taking pictures of the red pandas.
Group photo in front of the Panda Research Base.
Red pandas eating intently.
Baby pandas (aka the cutest organisms in existence).
Looking like a schoolgirl as I cover up the beautiful statue with my face.
As the title reveals, today we got to see the giant panda bears! One of the most iconic symbols of China is the panda bear, considering it is native to China, and luckily enough, the Sichuan Province is the place where most of the giant panda bears live. Looking at these fuzzy, cute, and very aggressive organisms simply puts a smile on your face, especially the baby pandas taking an afternoon nap. The place we started our journey happened to be fairly close to my host family's apartment, so instead of driving all the way to school and then taking a bus to the location, my host dad drove me straight there. The beginning of today's journey was very odd. We arrived at this large convention building where we were given a bag with a stuffed panda, some brochures, and another not very appealing shirt in it. We changed out of our beautiful school uniforms into these teal colored shirts with a logo that I don't know what it means on it. Afterwards, we entered this building where we were herded into this square. There were many other groups of people in the building with different colored shirts. This happened to be some sort of event for international college students, so that's where my confusion comes into play because we're not college students. After 30 minutes or so of talking and standing and watching videos glorifying the Sichuan Province, we went live on Chinese television... I think? Important Chinese leaders gave speeches and even some students did as well. There was also a dance performance and an introduction of many unique and beautiful places in the Sichuan Province. Thoroughly confused, we hoped on the bus and headed to the Panda Research Base in Chengdu. At the Research Base, a guide led us to different locations where we got to see panda bears. The Panda Research Base is pretty much like a zoo, but the only animals there are pandas. The first pandas we saw were red pandas, which are pretty small and kind of look like red raccoons. We walked for another while, and then we saw the bigger pandas that are around 2 years old. Sadly, all the giant pandas were inside because it was such a hot day, but they were still pretty cute. Next, we saw a few baby pandas that looked so cute and so cuddly. Thoroughly tired, but in a great mood, we went to another location to see more 2 year old pandas. Although pandas are really cute, they're actually quite aggressive and territorial. We saw some pandas practically eating each other and some rolling around together. For this reason, when they reach around 5 years of age, the pandas are separated. Additionally, pandas mostly spend time eating and sleeping. At the time we saw the pandas, the majority of them were sleeping, some were eating, and a few were playing around. When I was real little, I remember going to Washington, D.C. to see the panda bears, but seeing panda bears in China is truly a bucket list kind of experience. After a simple, but satisfying, meal of bread, milk, and apple slices on the bus, we arrived at Kuan Zhai Alleys. Kuan Zhai Alleys, Jinli Street, and Huang Long Xi are all very similar in that they are all popular tourist attractions with similar types of shops and food available and ancient architecture. The major difference I've gleaned is that Kuan Zhai Alleys and Jinli Street are much smaller than Huang Long Xi, which is actually a whole village. My favorite of the three is probably Huang Long Xi with Kuan Zhai Alleys in second and Jinli Street in third. Kuan Zhai Alleys is composed of two-ish streets/alleys that are actually rather wide. I hung out with Micah and Ben, a passionate airplane and transportation lover. We checked out a few food places and shops and pretty much just wandered about. When it suddenly started to rain, we sought refugee in Starbucks for a little while, and then headed out. 吴璨 "picked me up" in that we rode the subway together. Afterwards, I ate nineteen plums and two pears, went for a run, and then had a delicious dinner with my host family. I ate dried tofu for the first time, and it was pretty delicious. It reminded me of gouda a little bit, but not a whole lot.