The Panda Base was a beautiful and lush bamboo forest, misty and humid; a perfect home for the Pandas. We saw Giant Pandas and Red Pandas feeding. There was a crowd at first and I was having a little hissy fit (very shameful) because I thought I would never be able to get a view of the Giant Pandas. My fellows kept reassuring me that after a few minutes the crowd would disperse and we would all get a better view and they were right, of course. I am going to try and attach a small video I took here. Lets see if I am able! Nope..oh..okay here is picture instead: hmmm..well I'll be posting them in a minute.

Our guide here was Emily whose abrasiveness irritated me at first. She was always yelling out "NCTA!! NCTA!! This Way!" But during the Mao Museum visit we learned that her parents (who were intellectuals) were "reeducated" under Mao. They had been professors but were made to pick beans or some such thing. She explained that she grew up always afraid and tense and I realized she took on the nature of her oppressors..in her abrassive manner..perhaps. Anyway, we loved her after that Mao experience. I am including photos of a Mao Clock and also the Chinese Heroes Memorial. I believe that is Steve in the middle of all of the statues with his camera.

I loved seeing the pandas. I enjoyed this so much that the rain wasn't bothersome at all.
edited by ccable on 8/7/2012
edited by ccable on 8/7/2012

This was a top highlight of the entire trip for me. The collection, display, meeting the collector, having our guide Emily describe her own family story. It was so meaningful, especially on the 4th of July.
I am attaching a typical wedding photo from the cultural revolution, complete with red books, of course.

Sleeping panda...cute... Here's the link to the panda cam that Clay referred to: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam/index.html

Chengdo is a center of Science and IT industry in China.
I knew Japanese love the Three Kingdom stories, but surprised to see many explanations were actually written in Japanese at the Wuhou temple. Both Chinese and Japanese have confucian influences that both appreciate values on faith to the lord, dignity of your family, Sacrifice their own lives for their ideology, just like the world of Samurai. [font=Verdana, Tahoma, 'Bitstream Vera Sans', sans-serif]We also went out for a Chinee opera with Emily, where I saw a short story of the Three-Kingdom story in it, too. [/font]I was able to find many Daoism influences in the city. I also liked the Confucian poet, Du Fu's cottage and the simplicity: he chose to live like a Daoist(?), I bought his poem book written in Japanese to find out more about him. Also I liked the Mao Museum:the way they display private collections displayed very thoughtfully. Surprised to see not much websites available about the place, probably still unknown to the foreigners? I tasted the Kentucky Frid Chicken near by the hotel.

Oh, the pandas! I suspect that pretty much everyone goes a little panda crazy when they visit Chengdu. As soon as we saw the juveniles eating their bamboo, everyone forgot about the rain and the crowds and just fell in love with the pandas. I'd been there many years ago, and it seemed like the center had undergone a serious upgrade in the interim. Everything from the enclosures to the bathrooms seemed much nicer. That time, though, they'd had mini-pandas that were only 8 days old... and my film camera ran out of shots after I'd only taken one photo! Subsequently, I'd been wanting to go back for a do-over. As for marketing, we also all went a bit wild in the gift shop, picking out items for our loved ones and luxuriating in the panda-rific surroundings. They even had a small postal station with post cards and stamps, but sadly most (if not all?) of my panda cards never arrived in the US. Maybe someday?

The museum complex was amazing and eclectic. After the playful giant teacup/teapot fountain, we found ourselves in the somber Cultural Revolution museum. As the others have explained, this day presented a huge turning point in our relationship with Emily. Suddenly, the stern disciplinarian revealed a softer, more human side. She offered us a window into the reality of the Cultural Revolution that was far beyond what the museum itself could show. It was also striking that both Emily and Jerry (later on) spoke critically of the Mao era. During my visit in 2001, none of the Chinese guides I met spoke negatively of the government, and the guides on the 2001 trip had given the distinct impression that the government was keeping tabs on them because of their work with foreigners. The different attitudes were at least as striking as the extraordinary building boom that had occurred in the interim.