Monday. 30th November 

06:54 – I awoke at 6am for my ride to the panda park. Given that this was a highlight of my trip (or rather the whole point I came to China) my lack of planning was appalling. 

I write this sat in the private van I have hired, where the driver is nice but speaks zero English, not having a clue whether I am going to the right park for panda photos or not! 

My research last night told me there are a couple of panda parks in Chengdu, the biggest being Giant Panda Breeding Research Base that has a confusing website, followed by Dujiangyan panda base that has no website at all and when I google, I am taken to pages about Dujiangyan irrigation system, which, although is a UNESCO world heritage site, I have zero interest in visiting. 

In 2014, a few pandas in chengdu caught canine distemper and the survival rate was low. As a result, the panda centres stopped allowing human contact including photos to protect remaining pandas. However Dujiangyan has since reopened this opportunity but requires people to wear protective clothing. 

I have seen friends photos in the past and a couple on my DPRK tour had been and the photos have all been amazing so I can only hope that I can do it too and I will ignore the things I have read about booking in advance! I don’t think I’ll see baby pandas at this one though. 

Local name: 大熊猫谷

Local address: 白马村余塘乡

Breakfast however was an enjoyable affair – pocketed strawberry jam sandwiches with the crusts cut off. I started taking ‘Fufang Gaoshan Hongjingtian Koufuye’ on Saturday night which Frank said would help with potential altitude sickness in Tibet. It tastes a bit like liquorice. I can’t read the instructions as to what it does but I was told to take two vials a day. I took that as morning and evening – I couldn’t stomach two of these at once. At least the strawberry sandwiches took the taste away. Unless you speak Chinese, it’s a bit of a waste of time googling too!

 
  

08:30 – We finally arrived at the Dujiangyan Panda Park. The security guard said we would have to wait 15 minutes. I was filled with dread. I’ve come all this way, paid 400 yuan (~£40) for the driver and I might be turned away. However after 10 minutes a girl in a blue raincoat came and peered her head into the van and it seemed I could go in. Whoop! 

We parked up and my driver took me through into the office. Although he spoke less English than I speak mandarin, he did a great job in explaining that I wanted to see the pandas. The girl asked for my donation of 1800 yuan and I agreed to some form of terms and conditions that I wouldn’t sell my photos. Not sure who would want my amateur photos anyway but there we go. 

I was then let loose in the panda park. There are only 4-5 pandas that are open to the public, each in their own enclosure. At the sight of the first one, I almost skipped. The park was empty, there was no one in sight and with no crowds, you could get unbelievably close to them. I was on cloud nine. 

The first panda was called Dai Li and he was 16 years old. He was a cutie. He only had three legs as he was found in the wild after being attacked by other animals so his leg had to be amputated. It had since healed and he was doing well on his other legs. 

   
 

Another panda there was called Pan Pan. At 30 years old, he was the oldest panda at the park and the oldest male panda in the world. A birthday party was held for him in September. Cute! He was less photogenic than the others!

  
WuWen was a female panda and was 2 years old. When I first saw her she was folded over in the most uncomfortable position.    

 

10:20 – After an hour and a half of creeping on the 4 pandas there, I headed back to the office for the main event. A photo with what was to be, my new best friend. 

My new buddy was 1 year old and super cute. I was told that winter is a good time to see pandas as they prefer the cold and they are more active than in the summer when they insist on sleeping all day. He was a mischievous fellow who refused to get on the bench at first to pose for a photo. After he was given his carrot to munch on however he was a happy chap and sat nicely for the photos. 

It was surreal. He was so adorable and so fluffy and it took every part of me to not pick him up and whisk him away. He looked at me with this big eyes and I melted a little inside. What amazing creatures. 

   
   
Definitely worth every penny of my “donation”. I even got a certificate and a tshirt. 

When I told the lady it was hard to find things about the park online, she said it was because it wasn’t open to the public. You can only go on a tour group or if you are willing to donate for the photo. That explained a lot as to why the park was so empty. 

If I had time, I would have loved to go to the other panda centre to see the red pandas and the baby pandas but as I won’t get back until after lunch, I am probably cutting it fine. I’ll just have to come back to China in the future. They are incredible animals.