After taking the high speed train as our first train experience, we set the bar high. So taking the standard class hard seat for 13 hours to Chengdu was a bit disappointing. It felt like the longest train ride ever, but on the bright side, I did manage to catch up on some old New Zealand blog entries, so all was not lost. We arrived into Chengdu late, so we walked from the train station to our hostel. When we arrived they were trying to sell us tours, which was the last thing on our minds as we were shattered. We said we'd discuss it with them tomorrow.

England vs Italy

So the next morning was the one John had been waiting for ages, England's first game in the World Cup. So we got up before 6am to watch the match. Luckily our room had a TV in, so we watched the game in our room with the commentating in Chinese. We couldn't understand a word of it, but it was still good to be able to watch it. Italy scored first, then we equalised, but then they scored again and that secured a win for Italy. John was a bit gutted to say the least, so we switched it off and went back to sleep for a few hours.

Arranging Jiuzhaigou National Park

Later that day and afternoon we went out to find something to eat and had a wander around the local area. I couldn't believe how big chengdu actually was, it's not so easy to walk about on foot, so we didn't venture out too far. The main reason for coming here is to see the pandas, which we'll do tomorrow morning. The other is so we can go to do some hiking in the Jiuzhaigou National Park. Our hostel arrange tours to the park, so they gave us the information about it and we said we'd think about it and give them a decision later.

After doing research about Jiuzhaigou, we priced it up and it would only have been a few pounds cheaper to do it independently and then we'd have to try and get buses and accommodation there ourselves. It was just less hassle to book with the hostel, so we let them know we'd like to go in 2 days. That night, we met another English couple staying there and got chatting, they said they'd be doing the pandas the next morning, so we said we'd meet them there.

Pandas

So the next morning, we took 2 buses to get to the giant panda breeding and research centre. We left early as they said the pandas are most active between the hours of 9-10am due to feeding time. We arrived around 8.30, and we saw Dave and Claire, our new English friends there, so we basically walked around the panda base with them. It's a good size park to easily walk around on foot, yet there are plenty of tourist shuttle buses that the locals like to use. We opted to walk as it didn't seem far to walk around the park. They had a map in English- wahoo so we checked where the pandas are and headed to see them.

Baby pandas

Luckily, when we got there, it wasn't too busy yet, so we went to the first enclosure and saw a mother with her cubs. They were so cute. The babies were playing, climbing trees and eating bamboo shoots. They were also chasing each other and rolling about on the floor, it was hilarious to see them being playful. We saw one of the babies go to drink water from it's bowl, but then it climbed in it and started taking a bath in the water, shaking it's tail!

Red Pandas

Then we walked around and saw the red pandas. I've never seen them in real life before, so was looking forward to seeing them. We managed to see a couple of them play fighting from afar, which was cute. Then they came closer to us so we got a better look at them. They look like a cross between a fox and a cat. After they got bored playing, they came to eat their bamboo shoots, eating in the same manner as the giant pandas. They stayed eating for a few minutes and then ran off to play again, so we moved on ourselves.

Giant pandas

We went to see the adult giant pandas next, and they were sitting and eating their bamboo. They can eat up to 50 kg of bamboo a day and they can only digest around 15% of the food as they have such a slow metabolism. They need to eat for around 16 hours a day just to gain enough nutrients. There are many types of bamboo that they eat, which gives them some diversity in their diets. Pandas also are given panda bread here, which is baked on site. There were some samples that people could try, so John and the others did. They said it tasted like all bran! As a treat, pandas also eat fruit every now and then. I found it interesting to hear that pandas used to be carnivores millions of years ago, but scientists cannot yet discover the reason for them turning into herbivores. Today 99% of their diet is made up from bamboo.

Pandas are mainly solitary animals, only coming together to find a mate. At the research centre, there is less choice of breeding partners than in the wild, so they intervene and artificially inseminate the female pandas. There are now less than 2,000 pandas left world today, so the work the centre is doing is vital to help protect this endangered species. Pandas have been around for over 8 million years, so it's essential for the survival of the species.

We walked around the park and noticed that the pandas had all gone inside. Once they've eaten breakfast, they go into their air conditioned rooms to cool down, sleep and, of course eat. Dave and Claire left, so we stopped for lunch as we were starving. After lunch we walked around by swan lake, there were loads of black swans and carp fish. It's a man made lake that was created here, but it's still very scenic. Afterwards we wandered into the cinema room and watched a short documentary about pandas, then went into the scientific research area and the museum. We hoped to see more pandas in the afternoon, but they were still inside their enclosures. Luckily we got to see a few more pandas through the glass of their house before we left.

We took the bus back to the centre and went to stock up on supplies to take to Jiuzhaigou. We got told we'd need to take our own lunch for the national park because it's expensive to buy food on site. So we got loads of snacks and drinks to take, then stopped off for food on the way back. Later that evening, we met Dave and Claire in the bar downstairs and sat having a drink until we went to bed. We've to be up at 4am tomorrow, ouch.