Pandas, Stick Food and a Chinese Show

"Pandas and Stick food!"

January 18, 2010

I had to wake up extremely early for today's festivities. I woke up around 6 am and Skyped with Sarah Beth, my cousin. I also talked to John and my parents. It is so cool to think about how technology works and how I can communicate with people back in the US.

We loaded the bus around 7:30 AM for our 2 hour bus ride to the panda reserve. Pandas are most active in the morning so it was important for us to get there early. The bus ride was similar to yesterday’s. The bus driver had to stop and have his papers examined again. We stopped at another rest stop. This one however just had bathrooms. There were locals at this one selling produce.

We continued on with our bus ride. We kept climbing higher and higher into the mountains. Our tour guide told us this area gets rain about 200 days out of the year. It was drizzling when we arrived.

It seemed like we were the only people in the panda reserve. The pandas each have their own exhibit and then common playing area. Pandas eat 50 pounds of bamboo a day. There are over 160 types of bamboo for them to eat as well. It was neat to see them break whole bamboo sticks in half with their mouth. The pandas have amazing hand grips. They are in many ways like humans. We saw numerous pandas climbing up trees. There were not a lot of pandas in the reserve as usual because many had been sent to Shanghai for the World Expo. The pandas were so cute. We got to see panda kindergarten and a five month old panda. So cool!

After we went to the panda reserve we had lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. Surrounding the restaurant were farms. We sat down at tables and were immediately served hot tea as usual. Unlike the other restaurants we have been to, they did not ask us what we wanted to drink. They immediately served women diet Pepsi and the men local beer. Some of the guys were offended that they assumed that they wanted beer and switched it out for Pepsi. We had many different kinds of dishes. I have grown to love tofu while being in China. In one of the soups they served was congealed pigs blood. It looked like a chicken liver. I didn't taste it. We didn't know what it was until we got back on the bus.

We rode the bus back to the hotel. We had a few hours before dinner so Emma, Victoria and I went exploring. Victoria got a massage at the hotel for 30 RMB, which is about $4 USD. She enjoyed it too! While she was getting her massage, Emma and I went to find a sewing shop. We were somehow able to get my buttons sewn back on my jacket and my purse fixed! At first they started to cut all the buttons off the jacket. I was so worried! In the end it was good as new. They were only going to charge 5 RMB, or $.75 US cents. I gave them 15 RMB though because they were so nice and helpful and did a great job repairing both items.

We met up with some other classmates and went to dinner. We walked around Chengdu and bought food from street vendors. We called it stick food. I got a piece of pineapple and an egg square thing with scallions. It was sooo delicious.

After eating dinner we headed back to the hotel. We boarded the bus for a Chinese show at a local tea house. After we arrived and we were seated in big wicker chairs with comfy cushions. We were served tea that reminded me of honeysuckle. The show began and boy was it cool! The actors and actresses were dressed in elaborate clothing and wore lots of colorful face paintings and makeup. My favorite part was when a man used shadows from his hands to create many different animals. The show was so interesting but it is hard to describe. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

I was exhausted from the day’s festivities and went straight to bed when we got back.