Pandas More Pandas... and Jackie Chan?

Today, we had the oppor

tunity to visit China's best treasure.. the Giant Panda. We went to the Breeding center for giant pandas outside of Chengdu, and it was absolutely incredible. Picture hectares upon hectares of bamboo and green space, and different displays / pens set up to observe the panda. The old pandas, just sit and eat, the sub adult pandas play on the equipment etc. and the baby pandas are soo sooo cute.. they are climbing and falling off ladders, pushing each other, and were amazing to watch. It's hard to believe that they start out less than a kilo and grow to such magnificant creatures.

Then while walking to the museum, all of these chinese people are running and clapping. As the sheep we are we followed, and low and behold.. Jackie Chan was at the zoo.. in person. It was hilarious. He was dancing and singing with a group of officials in an area we could see him, but not get close. Then the funniest thing happened. Two kids jumped the police line and tried to get closer, the police grabbed them and threw them back behind the barricade, then this little old lady jumped the barricade hit a police officer, then the entire crowd rushed the line. It was hilarious. I wasn't a part of that, but it was funny to watch. One of the guys has a great pic of Jackie Chan, that he'll facebook for me. Who knew, going to a panda reserve would lead to seeing a movie star :)

Today in Chengdu marks the 1 year anniversary of the earthquake that hit this area (hence the reason Jackie Chan was in town), so in a completely different experience, I was able to participate in a memorial dedicated to the lives that were lost last year. I was given a flower and then proceeded with other chinese to the temple to place the flowers in the memorial basket. It was a very sereal experience, and one that was great to experience with the people of China.

Amy and I then parted from the group and walked across the city back to our hotel. We wandered through parks, shops, locals, and just had a great time chatting and getting to know eachother. Above is a pic of me sharing some Jasmine tea in the People's park. Hear we chatted and people watched, some elderly chinese dancing, some doing tai chi, some doing monchong, some doing kareoke... it was beautiful. I have to say, this day is equivalent to my "best day ever" in Beijing. I guess my favourite moments in China are the ones in which I actually get to experience China with the locals. Life is good.

Last night we went to a cultural performance, with the quick mask changing. Kenn.. remember in Spamalot where she changes her dress.. this is the same thing, but with face masks. I couldnt' get over it, with the snap of a fan, the face would change from black to red to white to half mask, to the actual face to a green one. They also did it with their full robes too, green to red to white, I have no idea how they do this and it is still confusing today..just like the time I left Spamalot.

There was also a hand puppet show (shadows) and I will be forever trying to figure out how he made those shapes with his hands.

Tomorrow we fly to Kumming then transfer to Jianhong, from there a tuk tuk to Laos.

Hope all is well back home!