Chendu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

Because we didn’t arrive back at the St. Regis Chengdu until after 10 pm, we were tired when we went to bed. We slept well until a little after 4 am then showered before going to the hotel breakfast buffet at 6:30. We loved the Chinese Opera last night but we turned in later than we were used to going to bed since we are still not fully adjusted to the 12 hour time difference here in China.  

Since we had packed the afternoon before so our bags could be transported to Xian, we didn’t need much time to prepare. We hoped that we would beat the breakfast crowd by showing up at 6:30 when the dining room opened. However, it looked like everyone had the same idea because the dining room was very busy. We had our usual breakfast of Chinese dumplings, steamed rice cakes and hot cereals. The servers were so busy that we didn’t get tea until we were nearly ready to leave. We didn’t stay long at breakfast since we needed to be on the bus to the panda preserve by 7:30 am.

Our local guide, Annie, gave us information on pandas telling us that the population had been rapidly declining because of habitat loss and diminishing food supplies. It turns out that pandas only feed on a few varieties of bamboo that grown in a small area of China. At one time pandas were widely distributed around much of the country but are now confined to Sichuan and portions of two other bordering Chinese provinces. The panda preserve promotes breeding of pandas as well as education on the importance of protecting these endangered species. China is very protective of the remaining pandas in captivity as well as those in the wild. A foreign zoo wishing to have a panda cannot purchase one. They can only rent an animal for one million dollars per year for a five year term. This all assumes that the zoo can provide adequate facilities and care to satisfy the Chinese panda team. In addition to the million dollar annual rental, the cost of feeding and caring for the panda far exceeds the rental. The types of bamboo required to feed the panda must be imported the regions of China where the bamboo grows.

At the Chendu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding we probably saw 60 pandas. The adult giant pandas need to be housed separately so they do not fight and injure each other. Since they are bred by artificial insemination, they are not even housed together for breeding. The younger pandas can be kept together to romp and play until they are about 4 years old. In captivity, the pandas often live over 30 years.

We started our tour of the adult pandas since they are usually more lethargic and are only active at meal time. Locals say that the giant pandas only eat and sleep. Because we were at the panda preserve early in the day at meal time we were able to see the adults moving some.

From there we went to the teenage pandas. These rowdy youngsters were full of energy and loved to romp and play with each other. They playfully bit and climbed on each other and tussled on the wooden structures provided.

The baby pandas in the nursery stole everyone’s heart of course. Some of the babies were tiny with eyes just starting to open. One newborn had a worker come in to wrap it in a towel to assure that it was staying the proper temperature. Each of the wooden cribs held up to eight baby giant pandas.

We were disappointed to learn that our visit to the panda preserve would not include the lesser red panda. However, during one stop we saw a sign pointing to one of the red panda areas so we opted to split from the group to see if any were out. We were pleased to find four red pandas chasing each other through a bamboo forest. They were running so fast that we were scarcely able to get a snapshot of them. These appeared to be adult red pandas who didn’t seem to have a problem with being in the same area. We walked on and caught two more red pandas feeding up in the bamboo. They were practically over our heads in the tall bamboo stalks. We quickly snapped a few photos then rejoined the group before were missed.

After spending about three hours at the panda preserve, we met for lunch at the café on the grounds of the preserve. We had a nice Sichuan meal with the usual lazy Susan and choices of beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, bamboo, lotus root, rice and noodles. Several choices were very spicy and included lots of hot Sichuan peppers. We all had our fill and walked toward our bus for the short ride to the train station.

We had about an hour to wait for our train so we walked around the Chengdu train station to look around as we waited. The train arrived at the station on time, and the Viking groups took most of the seats in our train car. The seats of the train were roomy and we were able to move around as we wished. We read, napped and played card games as we traveled the nearly three hour train ride between Chengdu and Xian. The ride took us through some beautiful country. We transitioned quickly from farm land to cities with skyscrapers and the ubiquitous cranes building more skyscrapers. We counted about 60 separate railroad tunnels on the rail line between Chengdu and Xian. There are times that we exited one tunnel then immediately entered another tunnel. The train ride was very smooth even though it went over 100 miles per hour at times. The train is not a mag-lev train like we saw in Shanghai but is a standard rail electric train.

We got to the Wyndham Grand Xian South Hotel around 6:30 and checked in quickly. Like all of our other hotels on the trip, our rooms were very nice. We have a large king sized bed and a roomy full featured bathroom and a complete business center in the room. The free Internet was fast and reliable.

We didn’t get to dinner until nearly 8 pm. The Wyndham had a nice buffet of Chinese and Western menu choices. We are eating Chinese at most of our meals. Our feeling is that we can eat Western foods when we get back but the authentic Chinese dishes will probably never be as available to us again. We have also noticed the differences in the food as we traveled across the country from east to west and now back toward the north and east.

Xian, along with Athens, Cairo and Rome, is one of the ancient capital cities of the world. Xian is one of the smaller mega-cities in China at 10 million residents. Although still a very large city, Xian seemed to have a very friendly atmosphere.

After dinner we went to our rooms and prepared for our early departure to the terra-cotta warriors exhibit on Thursday morning.