China 2005
 

Our next day was spent at the Giant Panda Breeding Center and Sanxingdui Bronze Ware Museum. The pandas were so worth seeing. They have a wonderful natural habitat and are looked after very well. The babies are not that big when you consider that there is a football there for them to play with. They are not eating bamboo yet as they are too young. The adults will sometimes eat small rodents as well as bamboo. The gestation is anywhere from 83 to 181 days and twins are quite normal. In the wild the mother can only keep one though so breeding in captivity allows both to live and grow up. We also had the opportunity if we wanted to have our picture taken with the rare red pandas. I was a little nervous but thought if I don't do it now, I never will, so I donned plastic booties and gloves and entered their home. They are fun little creatures who love apples and were very content to sit with you as long as they had plenty to munch on. Extremely soft and mostly fur so very light in weight. I took various pictures so you could see how beautiful their tails are and how big their feet are and one even showing how they hold a piece of apple. It was a wonderful experience for all of that did do this and afterwards we continued walking around the park in quietness just enjoying their company. http://china.tyfo.com/int/cdguide/panda.htm

After lunch at the Museum, we watched some of our group play mahjong, or should I say learn to play while other visitors just lay down their heads for a quick nap.

The Museum was incredible with such displays that I have never seen before. The masks with the protruding eyes were especially interesting, as were the bronze trees. We only scratched the surface of what was there. When looking at the pottery pieces here, remember that the white pieces are those that have been made up to complete the original piece so they could show you what it would have looked like. While I was out walking around the grounds, I met a gardener who was putting in english daisies if you can believe it. A ready smile greeted me and I loved the tools he was using. The grounds were gorgeous and don't you just love the grass carrier. http://www.2panda.com/sanxingdui.htm