Day 11: Chengdu and the Panda Base

Whenever you think, THAT was a super great breakfast buffet, it tops the next one. We can’t get rid of the feeling that someone from the kitchen once worked in Switzerland. There were pretzel rolls and Swiss Emmental, a feast.

In Chengdu there is a panda breeding station 15 km away. We were in the new part. The area covers 3 km2. Really beautiful, large and variedly planted. Here the mothers can also be seen together with their young. A female panda is a panda from the age of 5 and a male panda is an adult from the age of 6. There are about 2,300 giant pandas living in the wild. There were already pandas 8 million years ago. At that time they were carnivores. They have survived to this day, but they only eat bamboo 99% of the remaining percent is apple, carrot or panda cake, which are added with vitamins by the keepers.

They eat 12 hours, sleep 10 hours and walk around the area for 2 hours. Pandas belong to the bear family and can become quite aggressive. Most of the time they are rather lazy. Of the 45 kilos of bamboo that the keepers give to the pandas, ça. 30 kilos eaten. 170 giant pandas live here in the enclosure. Did you know that a panda is short-sighted and can only see 2-3 meters away?

There are also very few red pandas. They almost look like foxes. This facility is really nicely done. We saw another beautiful yellow tree. It is a yellow rosewood.

It was nice with the pandas, the facility is very well maintained and Bella explained everything to us wonderfully.

The driver takes us to Wuhou Shrine. It is a historical site dedicated to the strategist and minister Zhuge Liang. We walk through the very nicely landscaped area and listen to the historical background that Bella tells us. Some even got stuck. Again, a great facility with historically important artifacts. Minister Zhuge Liang also invented the sky lanterns and used them as communication in war.

On the way out we pass through a busy street with various food stalls and various shops. Bella shows us a market with fresh vegetables, herbs. Fruits. Meat and spices. Markus has taken Szechuan pepper with him.

So, now let’s go to the Volkspark. Actually, we are pretty exhausted, but Bella has such a positive energy, you just keep walking. From 1939 to 1944 there was war between China and Japan. Versatility of. Chengdu was destroyed. This park is a souvenir of the soldiers. Here we stroll, dance and make music. It is super beautiful and moving at the same time. On the square where the people dance with each other you can see individual farewell scenes. The figures are made of bronze. Markus is addressed by an older man in perfect beautiful English. It became a very warm conversation. The people are curious and yes, we stand out. Always cute to see when we are discovered by children. Curiosity always outweighs shyness. We smile and wave back.

The red and blue slips of paper are the analogue marriage market here, blue = little man is looking for a woman and with red it is the other way around. It is advertised with height, weight and social position.

But now have a tea in the Volkspark. What a show Markus’ Kung-Fu tea has caused. See for yourself. And then there are the ear cleaners. Markus treated himself to a cleaning and it was worth it. In front of the Volkspark there was a fruit cart. The strawberries looked so tempting. So we bought a kilo for 5 yen (-.57 CHF). We drive back to the hotel and again it’s time to say goodbye. After an evening walk and an unspectacular dinner, we are ready for the hotel room with 18,000 steps.