For our first day in Chengdu, I signed up for the Panda Breeding Center tour. I was a little hesitant to sign up for the tour, because I thought we’d rather go at our own pace, but tours are cheap and easy, so I committed, figuring we could always go back on our own if we wanted.
We got up early for the 8:30 tour, as pandas are best viewed in the morning. The day was cool and cloudy, a perfect panda day.
The research center was a well thought out place, beautifully landscaped, and the areas for the animals were large, clean, and full of vegetation. Our guide was sort of an anti-guide…he walked us from place to place, but did not utter a single word. He didn’t carry a banner to keep the group together, mostly he just kept a shrewd eye open and expected everyone to intuit when to leave.
At the area for the yearlings, we came across an opening into a building that was labeled “Nursery.” The was a large group of people near the cave-like entrance, and I thought this was where you would enter to see the very small pandas. As I stood near the front, though, I noticed that no one was going in.
“What is this?” I asked.
A woman nearby told me that this is where you go to hold the pandas. I had heard about this--the price for holding a panda was 1000 yuan. Supposedly, you could stand next to an adult panda for less money, or hold a red panda for 150 yuan. But the big draw was actually holding a panda. We had done considerable research about this before we left for China, and I knew that the panda, although young, is about one year old, and not the tiny panda you might be thinking of. It’s probably about 2/3 the size of Kinsey. You also only get to hold the panda for about a minute. Most of the people waiting by the door were foreigners, and most were opting not to hold a panda.
Earlier in our trip, I had been debating with Kinsey whether she should do this. She had been surprisingly non-committal, sometimes saying she didn’t want to hold a captive animal, sometimes talking about the high price. I had been waffling mainly due to the price, but that day, I had decided that if she wanted to do it, we should pay the 1000 yuan. My rationale was that you should never turn down things you might regret. This could very well be a once in a lifetime opportunity for her, as I could imagine China might shut down panda-holding in the future, or the fact she might never get back. So I told her, I’d be willing to pay and we plunked ten 100 yuan notes into the hand of a park employee, and Kinsey was escorted inside. I was not allowed inside with her, even considering her age…but they took her camera and promised a lot of pictures.
As I was waiting, I struck up a conversation with a middle-aged couple from the U.S., and discovered they were traveling China with their 20-something daughter, who was now inside, holding a panda. We chatted about all the different places we’d been, comparing notes, when their daughter burst out, thrilled to death, and showed her parents her photos. What immediately struck me is that she had video…video from her regular little camera of her and the panda. A light bulb went off, and I set off to find the park employees and luckily, one spoke English very well. I told her Kinsey was inside, and asked her if they would shoot video of her. She was happy to oblige and disappeared with my camera.
Five minutes later, Kinsey emerged with a huge smile, both cameras, a lot of photos, and some great video. The employees took a lot of pictures…I think she may have gotten more time and pictures than others because she was young. But the video was the thing that made the whole enterprise worthwhile. I don’t have much video of my kids…I probably don’t have anything, really…but we do have this great video of Kinsey and her panda.
All in all, we saw areas for adult pandas, red pandas, and yearlings.
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