Panda-monium!!!

What's black and white, an endangered species, the national treasure of China, and quite possibly the cutest animal on earth? You guessed it - the Giant Panda! Pandas are native to only three of China's provinces, with the largest number by far residing in Sichuan. The image of the panda is ubiquitous here - it appears on everything from keychains to cigarettes. About 200 pandas are kept in various zoos and research centers throughout China, and most experts agree that their numbers in the wild have dwindled down to just 1000 or so individuals.

So this weekend we got to experience the quintessential Chengdu tourist activity - gushing over a panda. We journeyed to Chengdu's Giant Panda Breeding Research Base with our friend Joanna, who has lived in Chengdu for 2 years but never seen the pandas, so it was a new experience for all of us. It's a beautiful base, with huge lush habitats for the pandas to roam freely in. The base holds about 50 giant and red pandas, and we saw about half of them, including four giant panda babies. We weren't allowed to photograph the babies, ostensibly so they are not disturbed, but really I think it's because their cuteness would probably be too much for your camera lens to handle.