We
fly from Guilin to Chengdu, the Chinese gateway city to Tibet, a gloomy, smoggy traffic-snarled
and surprisingly modern city of some 8
million people. It is the capital
of Sichuan province and the home of a research
organization studying the breeding habits of the giant Panda. We get to sample
the spicy food, which I enjoy but makes Joyce sick.
We visit the thatched cottage memorial to Du Fu, one of China's most famous poets but are under whelmed. In the rear is a small shrine where people light joss sticks and pray.
In a crumbling part of the old town is, what we are told, the last surviving silk-weaving loom in operation. The two old men who operate it are the last of a breed that has died out. See photograph below.
Chengdu is the home to
China’s giant Panda Breeding Research Base, a short ride outside town.
There must be more pandas here than anywhere in the world and seeing them in their quasi-natural habitat is a real
treat. We get to witness two young males in a
half-hour wrestling match.
Pandas are fun to watch. They are quite oblivious of us humans. They just seem to eat bamboo (about 45 lbs per day), play and sleep. They are very sensitive to their environment, preferring high altitude. with only about 1,000 of them surviving in the wild today. Their mating habits are poorly understood which is why captive breeding has met with so little success. We also see the lesser panda, pictured here, with all of the characteristics of a raccoon but red in color.
So, our visit to Chengdu ends with a fun day and anticipation as we look forward to our travels into Tibet.
Silk Weaving Du Fu Joss Sticks Relaxing Close Up Carved Tree Root