Today is my first day at the Panda Center. It is AWESOME! We woke up and had a typical Chinese breakfast, steam bread and rice. After eating, we went to where the pandas stay. We were assigned to the breeding center. My partners in crime this week are Anna and Chen. The pandas are so cute. All but one in the breeding center are girls and most of them are pregnant. Apparently, one of them thinks that she is pregnant, but is actually not.
Our job is to go into the cages and sweep them out and pick up all the uneaten bamboo, clean the poop, mop them out, then put new bamboo in them. The pandas are in the cage next to us and just sit there and watch us. It’s so amazing to be right there next to these animals. After we cleaned and restocked the cages, we fed them some treats. They behave surprisingly well. They have to sit down on their butts, then hold the cage before they are fed the treats. If you tell them to sit, they will. They are pretty much like big cuddly dogs. Watching them eat bamboo is also pretty cool. They peel the outside then eat the inside.
This afternoon I am taking pictures of Chen, who is going to play with the pandas for 5 minutes. She is paying 1000 Yuan for it. Since I am taking pictures for her, I will get to get close up with them also. Jackpot! I will also do it twice tomorrow for Anna, and a girl from Hawaii.
A lot more to come…
Chris- Adviser Abroad China
Cultural Embrace @ www.culturalembrace.com
www.flickr.com/photos/cschave
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