We got up at 6.30 this morn to get the bus to the Chengdu Panda Sanctuary.
Panda Facts- Pandas werent discovered by the western world till 1869 until Pere David brought a pelt back from China- There are now less than 1000 wild pandas left in the wild in China- Due to being very low in nutrients pandas need to spend 16 hours a day munching through 40kg of bamboo to stay healthy- Every 25 years bamboo flowers and then dies en-masse so wild pandas need to move somewhere else to survive, in 1970's over 130 pandas starved to death in the wild because of this .- Pandas have developed a "thumb" not a real one but a modified wrist bone that enables them to strip the bamboo leaves from their branches 
So anyway we spent the morning there wandering round - there was a mum and its baby being all playful in one enclose they were lovely - you have to get there early in the morning as they tend to go indoors when it gets really hot. Strangely enough these pandas here have AIR CONDITIONED indoor areas !!!!!

Anyway the pics say it all it was a great day out.

Oh and the pics of the goldfish are mental - people were putting in fish food and they were literally coming out the water to get the food - crazy giant goldfish !



 
Costs
Day trip to pandas organised by hostel included entry & bus - £10 each
Double room ensuite - £16 per night