As I’m sure you already know, China is famous for the cutest animal ever: pandas! In fact, Chengdu (which is where I’m living in China), is where the Panda Research Center is located. I’m sure you’ve read articles like this, or have watched videos like this, that feature the employees at the research center in Chengdu living the dream and playing with pandas all day long. (Ugh, what a life!)
“Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, or simply Chengdu Panda Base, is a non-profit research and breeding facility for giant pandas and other rare animals. It is located in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. Chengdu Panda Base was founded in 1987. It started with 6 giant pandas that were rescued from the wild. By 2008, it had 124 panda births, and the captive panda population has grown to 83. Its stated goal is to, ‘be a world-class research facility, conservation education center, and international educational tourism destination.'” (via wiki)
I’ve wanted to visit the panda center forever, so it’s fair to say I was pretty excited the morning we arrived. (My nickname growing up was, “Manda Panda” after all!) I’ve only seen one panda in real life before, and that was at the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington, DC. Seeing one up close was awesome, but to visit a place totally dedicated to pandas…?! Wowwwie!
Anna from Slightly Astray joined me and we walked and walked for hours, making sure to cover every square inch of the park. (OMG it was hot. China is so hot.)
In true tourist fashion, I took a lot of photos… Like, 354 to be exact. This doesn’t include the thirty or so videos I captured, either! It was just so exciting/fascinating to watch the pandas eat, walk around, and sleep. They’re so adorable! They don’t look real to me, haha. It almost looks like someone is wearing a panda costume, walking around pretending to be a panda. They’re too fluffy and cute!
It was hard to pick a favorite panda because they were all cute in their own way, but this one really made me laugh. Look at how he’s sitting! The internet is reaaaaally slow in China so I’m unable to embed any videos into this post, but here’s one I took of this guy.
This panda sat in his pile of bamboo and swiftly chomped, chomped, chomped away at all of it. I loved watching him eat. I also loved how his right arm was resting on that wood piece. I took a short video of him, too!
These baby pandas were playing up in the tree together and kept biting each other’s arms and slipping from branch to branch. There was a huge crowd here watching them and every time one of them moved, everyone would say, “awww!” or “ooooh!” all at once, haha.
There was a delivery house that had itty bitty newborn pandas as well as bigger, fluffy baby pandas. We were rushed through pretty quickly (a guy was yelling at us through a megaphone) because there was a large line, but I tried to take photos/videos the best I could!
Inside another building, we found more babies sleeping. There was a guy in there with these pandas video taping them. I discovered after the fact that there’s a 24hr webcam at the research center! Check it out!
The red pandas were super cute too, of course! They’re like little raccoon-fox-dogs. Their enclosure really confused me though because there didn’t seem to be appropriate fences keeping them inside. I think if they really wanted to, they could slip under the huge gaps in the fences and escape, but I guess they don’t care to? It was hard to tell how many red pandas there were in the area because they were scattered about, sometimes in trees, sometimes sleeping on logs. I’m so curious to know why they don’t try to get out! Here’s a video I took.
The souvenirs were pricey of course, so I only left with a little panda stuffed animal and a magnet, but this backpack caught my eye. It almost says Amanda! 😀
I’m so happy I got to see the pandas. It’s something that has been on my bucket list forever! <3 As always, thanks for reading! xo
Stephanie says
Oh my goodness – this looks like so much fun! All those pandas! So cute! 🙂
amandaaude@gmail.com says
Ahhh, I know!
Nano @ Travel With Nano B. says
This is so incredibly cute! It is my biggest regret that we didn’t manage to squeeze in a trip to Chengdu to play with pandas during our visit to China. They are adorable! xoxo, nano | http://www.travelwithnanob.com
amandaaude@gmail.com says
Awww, so sad you couldn’t see them! They were soooo adorable. <3 <3 <3
Fiona says
awwww so cute and I totally agree about them being humans in costumes!! 🙂
amandaaude@gmail.com says
Haha totally, it’s so weird! But I love it!
Anna says
I’m so glad we explored it together!! Such a fun day, even if it felt ridiculously hot! I’m soooo glad I got to check this off too! I know, they don’t look real to me either…. which is so weird because bears look real to me. Must be the perfect black/white coloring! Your photo turned out amazing.. eeeek so cute! My favorite was the fat one eating bamboo, the babies playing, and the red pandas!
amandaaude@gmail.com says
<3 <3 I'm sooo happy we were able to do this together!! Can't wait to see your photos!
Kelly says
Can they get any cuter?! So adorable!!
amandaaude@gmail.com says
I know! <3
Novreica says
Both pandas and red pandas are SO CUTE and adorable! <3<3<3
I'm so happy to see such Panda Center and it's been in my bucket list for a long time!
amandaaude@gmail.com says
Oh my gosh I know. Too cute!
Jane Rebecca says
Love your photos – this is definitely on my bucket list, they are just too adorable!! I love that they’re so cute they don’t even seem real in person haha. The red pandas are super sweet too 🙂 what an amazing experience!
amandaaude@gmail.com says
Thank you!! You should definitely check it out, but maybe go on a fall or spring day, when it isn’t so hot! Gosh, the humidity in China is just too much haha
Amanda says
The red pandas! So adorable. What fun to be able to see this in person!
amandaaude@gmail.com says
I know, they are so interesting/fuzzy/adorable!
KatieMcK says
HOW FUN. Did you discover why the Red Pandas don’t try to escape? The video of that one being lazy made me laugh out loud. Such cuteness
amandaaude@gmail.com says
Haha, no I never found out! It’s a mystery!
Katherine says
So was everyone really quiet around them? Just wondering if the National Treasure sign worked, because it’s a great way of appealing to people. And I’m betting the quiet atmosphere made it nicer to watch the pandas go about their business.
amandaaude@gmail.com says
Yes, it did work! It was pretty quiet in there, and they had workers standing around, too, mainly to speed up the line but also reminding you to be quiet.
Esther says
OMG, how cute are these. Baby pandas!!! Since I have red hair, my husband calls me a red panda often 😉 So I really coo-ed at your photos of the red pandas, haha!
#WanderfulWednesday
amandaaude@gmail.com says
Awww that’s cute!! My nickname growing up was Manda Panda, so I can relate haha.
Rhonda Albom says
The pandas are so cute. How could anyone not take more than a couple of hundred photos? It looks a bit more built up than when I was there but the pandas are the stars.
amandaaude@gmail.com says
Agreed!!!
Jamie says
I just want to cuddle them! we have a few pandas here at the Taipei Zoo, which I think were either born or bred over at the center in China. I actually went to see them a few years ago with Anna when she was in Taipei, so funny!
amandaaude@gmail.com says
Haha that’s great!!