Pandas! In Chengdu

A week ago, for the National Holiday, we decided to go to Chengdu. The school didn't really want us to go as they're quite protective of us. But we were surprisingly safe the entire time. The only "bad" thing that happened was that when we got to the airport the cab driver drove around the block claiming it was the construction and our ride cost 70 yuan. Fortunately, we had anticipated being charged more, and 70 yuan is only like 12 dollars. And they told us the ride to the Panda Base would cost over 100 yuan and it ended up only being 54. We know to make the cab drivers restart the meter when we get in, and carrying a map in my lap helps as well. :)

Anyway, the Pandas were my highlight of the trip. Although I really enjoyed every second of the entire trip! It was incredible! And Chengdu felt like we were in America again with all the Caucasians we saw! Although many of them were European. In fact, there may have been more Europeans there than Americans!

 

Here is a picture of me with a Panda butt. That's about the best picture I could find that actually worked. It was difficult! Pandas sleep in the trees a lot in the most uncomfortable positions imaginable. Crazy!

We found this random sign, too. "No strinding." We couldn't couldn't figure out what it meant. Maybe no straying from the path? No standing?

They had red pandas too who were like the cutest little things ever. Seriously, I think red pandas are cuter than the black and whites cuz they're so playful and cute! One girl actually got to pet one because it walked right up to her! We walked along a path where they could do that! So cool!

Anyway, that's all about the Pandas. We also visited Du Fu's cottage (the beginning of Chinese literature) and the Wuhou shrine. I'll maybe write about those another time. We also ate some incredible food. And we ate more American food than we had in the last month combined. I got a Big Mac and we found a Papa Johns (which actually was not very good at all. The pizza here, even at Pizza Hut, just isn't the same since they don't really have cheese nor do they like tomato sauce). We usually get one Western meal a week here in Guiyang and it's always either KFC (which is really spicy so I don't like to go there as much), Pizza Hut, or Dicos (a Chinese version of KFC which has less spicy chicken, surprisingly. I think we're going there today since we all spent all our money on our trip and are now too poor to afford Pizza Hut).

We decided in all, we're glad we live in Guiyang and not Chengdu. While it was a great city to visit, it was definitely not as "Chinese" as Guiyang. We weren't immersed in the culture like we are here. Too many people spoke English there. It actually surprised us when someone actually spoke to us because we're so used to the "point and grunt" system. I really do love Guiyang, and I'm definitely gonna miss this place! Even if it's more difficult to live in. That makes it an adventure!