PANDAPANDAPANDA...

So we arrived at the Chengdu Panda Sanctuary which deserves a whole blog post to itself!

 

I know everyone will be as excited as me (Christine) about this, so I'll ease you all in gradually ;)

 



 

Nice statue at the entrance

The first pandas we met were these 1.5 year olds having breakfast.  Note the one who is leaning on his brother for comfort.

Close ups

They didn't seem to mind having the leftovers all over themselves..

Excited Christine..

There were also some other species, including some very funny red pandas.  There were probably about 8 of them that we saw, most being fed and moved around with brooms (but in a gentle way)..

Red panda 1

Red panda 1 sniffing red panda 2

Then we headed for the panda nursery (!!) so brace yourself for some cuteness..

There were two little girls only a few weeks old..

 

Then in the next area (the second time round) we got to see this guy!

 

There are no words to describe how fluffy this one was..

Here is one of the keepers, prepping a very important panda.. Keeper: 'So are you ready?'  Panda: 'Yes, totally ready!'

..for me!

 

Although it looks like I work in a hospital, they made us wear these to make sure that we were sanitary and very careful around the pandas.  Although he was fairly busy having lunch, he was very nice.

Caption competition for this one..

Alas.. we had to leave the sanctuary.. although I managed to bring a panda with me :)