Chengdu Pandering

The expansive bamboo forests viewed from the train windows before arriving in Chengdu had us watching for pandas. Much more successful was our visit to the panda research centre where there are 200 pandas.
We learned that pandas are naturally solitary creatures and that female pandas are only fertile for two or three days each year—a challenge for conservationists. Another natural difficulty is the panda’s reliance on bamboo: when a species of bamboo flowers, the entire grove dies off in a synchronized event that happens only once every several decades. This mass die-off can drastically reduce the pandas' primary food source, threatening their survival. The research centre’s work to sustain bamboo supplies and support breeding programmes left us hopeful.
However, no time for us to act like indolent pandas as tonight we have an overnight journey train to Xining.Read more