Road Trip!

Chengdu: Home of China's National Treasures

A few days ago we took a day trip into Chengdu to see, what else other than China's most precious animal: the panda. It was a hot, humid day, so most of the pandas were inside their compounds. However, we could walk inside and see most of them through glass windows, and we did see one adventurous juvenile braving the heat, high up in the boughs of a tree. Fat and cuddly looking, they meandered around their enclosures, occasionally getting into wrestling matches and chomping on bamboo. For the most part, they were content to sit around and do what pandas do best: look adorable.

This rapscallian was giving his mother a hard time: climbing around on the wooden structure in their enclosure, and jumping off onto her over and over again:

We were even there during a time when there were tiny, tiny little babies in the Moonlight Nursury. They were so young that they were still in the incubators, and were actually surprisingly ugly. They were pale, pink and wormlike. However, I couldn't help but be fascinated by these tiny creatures. Despite so much pitted against them, these little pups had struggled against all odds into the world.

However, despite going to Chengdu for the express purpose of seeing the legendary pandas, I found that my very favorite part of the area was not the pandas themselves, but the red pandas. I'm not sure how closely the two are actually related, but red pandas look like a raccoon mixed with a fox, and they are freakishly adorable.

Just look at that face.

Even more surprising was that the red panda enclosure was not actually blocked off from the pathway leading through it. There was only a waist high railing, which meant that as we were walking around, we would happen upon a red panda, casually sauntering along the pavement or up some stairs. The picture below was taken about 4 feet away from the little guy. It was an amazing experience to be able to see them so close up, and I challenge anyone to watch a red panda cleaning his paws, and not squeal. The cuteness overload was through the roof.

After visiting the pandas, we left to have lunch in Chengdu. It was a great city, full of Western comforts mixed with uniquely Chinese buildings. I plan on visiting the city many times before the year is over. And in case anyone thought I was bluffing about the food here, I snapped a quick picture of our amazing lunch, just so you can understand how jealous you should be feeling:

For the next five days I'm going to be traveling with my dear friend, Snow, to make a short road trip across China. We will be visiting Xi'an and will end up in her home in Taiyuan. Wish me luck, and by the time I get back, I am sure I will have plenty of stories and countless amazing pictures to share. Till then, man zou! Take it easy!

Welcome to the Zhongguo

You'll find out very quickly through this blog that I am something of a procrastinator. I was determined to write this first blog post weeks ago, detailing my feelings on leaving China for a full year, expressing my nervousness at teaching English at the university level in Pengshan, and documenting my excitement at returning once more to the country I have grown to love. Instead, it is 8 hours into the transpacific flight, and here I am--just beginning, and very sleep deprived and hungry. I hope, dear reader, that you will forgive me for any mistakes that are surely a direct result of my bleary head and unsatisfied stomach.

I'm sure there are a whole slew of metaphors for traveling. But for me, it is most like jumping from a great height. The weeks before you leave are like standing on the precipice, toeing the edge. This is a time for anxiety, excitement, and yes, for fear. You peer over the edge and waver. Are you really ready for this? Are you going to make the leap? You will, of course, but psyching yourself up is a battle nonetheless. As you jump, the peak of your arc is the plane ride over. You are no longer leaping upwards, but gravity has yet to take its hold on you and drag you downwards. You hover, caught in limbo. Like a plane ride, this moment can seem to last forever.

And then you are falling, falling down into another country. Sights and smells and places flash past you, too fast to process and overwhelms your senses as you struggle to orient yourself. This period of adjustment is always chaotic and nerve-wracking, a fast paced ride of pure adrenaline, and it is a thrill like no other. Very soon now, I will be thrust into the whirlwind that is China. Here's to hoping I land on my feet.