April 13, 2008
Back from Sichuan
Three good reasons to go to Sichuan Province:
- Spicy food (I’m pretty sure those peppercorns have hallucinogenic properties)
- Fresh green tea (the 2008 crop is in)
- Panda bears (don’t worry, I was wearing my running shoes)
April 14th, 2008 at 4:07 am
Running shoes?…Doesn’t he prefer bamboo over maoxian for lunch? ;)
April 14th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Are you drinking green tea now?
April 14th, 2008 at 7:11 am
@j: Yes, these cute little carnivores prefer bamboo, and this guy was having a good time ripping up this tree instead of me.
@Tom: I’ve always drunk green tea, though I switch to pu’er in the winter months and wait patiently for the spring crop to come in.
April 14th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Chengdu is great, so is jiuzhaigou! Were the pics taken at the wolong park? I went there in 2002 and it was 200-300 to get a pic taken of yourself hugging a panda. Then I went back in 2005 and it was like 800-1000. Did you find out the current going rate?
April 14th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Nik: The current Panda hugging picture rate is RMB1000 ($142.74 @ 7.005), so inflation on the panda front appears “muted.” :) They frame it as a “donation” to “help the pandas,” but I asked them if the pandas helped pay for all the Black Audis out front. You want to make people deeply uncomfortable in China, just start asking about who paid for their black Audis, as I’m sure you know.
I have not been to Jiuzhaigou yet, but now that Marriott has a place there I may go.
This was not Wolong, but a “panda breeding base” just north of Chengdu.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Yeah I think thats the place I went to. The wolong park is a reserve right? Did you meet Pride, the sponsor for the Chengdu Cigarette factory? I’m sure he’s paid for a few Audis in his time! I’d like to see a historical chart on panda hugging prices over the last 10 years please :)
April 14th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Nik: Pride? No, I didn’t catch any of their names though the guide told me, in an effort to impress, that there are quite a few “superstar celebrity” pandas there. Ding Ding, Jing Jing, whoevah … they all look alike to me. :-)
April 15th, 2008 at 1:53 am
I just got back from seeing the Pandas myself yesterday.
Unfortunately, it was at the San Diego Zoo. However, still very cool. They have five, including a baby.
-FAT
April 17th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Will be there in June. The kids will be excited. Yes, I love Chengdu, the best city in China, in my opinion, to live, to retire to.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Joy: The air quality there is horrific, nearly as bad as Beijing, but I agree the place did have a nice vibe.