We added Chengdu to our travel plans after most of our plans were already made. We decided we wanted to go to see the Pandas so we added Chengdu to our travel log. We have friends there who invited us to stay in their home for the week. They have a wonderful home and a driver. The company our friend works for has given them a driver. The company does not want their foreign employees to drive, so they each have a driver. We were gratefully allowed to use the driver while we were there. Mr. Tian picked us up at the airport and took us to a museum the first day. He drove us to the Pandas and to a great big mall. We had Mr Guan who drove us down to the Giant Buddha. It was so nice to have a driver. We either had a driver and or we walked everywhere. It made our trip to Chengdu much more wonderful.
We also spent a lot of time just relaxing, so that we were able to be ready for the next stage.
After being picked up at the airport, Mr. Tian took us to the Jin Sha Site Museum. Then we went and had hotpot.
Day 2 was just walking around and seeing what we could find. We did see some interesting things. In one area we could see total poverty and then affluence right next to each other. There was also a stark contrast between rich and poor from one side of the river to the other in a certain area of Chengdu. It is a nice city though.
The best day was going to see the Giant Pandas and the Red Pandas. The small red panda was named Panda first before the Giant Panda was discovered. Then the name was changed to red panda after the Giant Panda was named. The Giant Panda Park is a place for conservation. They breed pandas and rehabilitate sick pandas to be put back out in the wild. They have already bred many in captivity. Pandas usually have two babies at a time. In the wild, the mother takes the strongest one and raises it and the weakest one dies. At the park, they keep one with the mother and take the other to the nursery to hand raise. Then they are released back into the wilds of China.
Pictures are great, but here are some videos of the pandas. There red panda on the one video walked right past us on the path. There is an area in the Giant Panda park that they let the animals roam wild. They warn you not to frighten them because they might attack. It was pretty cool to see the red panda close up.
This is the big mall called the Global Center. It is huge! It has a waterpark inside along with a mall, hotel, offices, and restaurants.
Lastly we went to the Giant Seated Buddha. The pictures will show how big it is.
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