Pandas, the Yangzi River and Shanghai

After Tibet, a day flight to Chegdu to visit the Giant Panda Breeding Research Center.

At the Panda Center

The research center is used primarily to allow pandas to mate, apparently they are a very shy animal and were declining in natural population, and raise young to be released back into nature. We were there early in the morning and were fortunate to catch the younger Panda playing before their mid-day nap.

Took about five minutes of  play to get to the ground.

Panda moms usually give birth to twins and if left on there own will abandon one twin to die. The center takes both babies and raises them until they are big enough to be re-united with the mothers,

Twin Babies

This is one of the best animal centers I have been to, it large, ,the pandas have lots of room, very well kept and very clean. The center has planted a large amount of bamboo to feed the Pandas and they eat a tremendous amount daily. The Giant Pandas are bears and are therefor omnivores, same as most other bears, but are feed only bamboo at the center as they sometimes get aggressive and can cause harm to each other on a diet that includes meat.

Having a snack

Red pandas are also kept and bred at the center and although not as endangered as the Giant Panda, they are a delight to see. The Red Panda is more evasive and sometimes hard to find, but if patient you can see them.

Red Panda

The Red Panda is not of the bear family and is similar to our racoons.

Then a bullet train to Chongqing to catch the River Cruise on the Yangzi, while not quite as fast as a bullet the train does move, every car has a speedometer display and it traveled mostly around the 295km/hr range.

Although the Yangzi River is the third longest river in the world, 6,300km, the majority of the river boat cruises cover about 200km through the three gorges (Qutang, Wu and Xiling) to the Three Gorges Dam. Approximately one third of the Chinese population live in the Yangzi River Valley. 

The three days on the river were relaxing, no packing suitcases, no bus or train terminals to navigate, just a relaxing time. Leaving Chongqing, the trip is not overly exciting, broad river, factories and barges, but it all changes when one enters the first of the gorges. Even after the Three Gorges Dam raised the water level by 110 meters, the Qutang Gorge still towers over head.

Qutang Gorge

Prior to flooding the gorges and building ship locks at the dam, only small boats could navigate through the gorges and these only by being pulled through by manpower, 20 to 30 men all attached by rope to the boat scrambling up the incline. While around 1 million people were relocated during the construction of the dam, there are a number of towns, villages and temples where the boats stop for sightseeing. The most enjoyable for us was taking a small local sightseeing boat up the Goddess Stream, located in a hidden valley with lush forest and unique landscape.

The Goddess Stream

Scenery

The Gang.

Three Gorges Dam, while the worlds largest generator of power, power was one of three reasons to build the dam.

First reason was to control the flooding of the fertile basin further downstream as the Yangzi flooded to some extent every year. Some 400,000 people were drowned by flooding in the fifty years prior to the dam being constructed.

Secondary was to be able to build a river lock that would allow heavy freight barges and ships to navigate the Yangzi, now 80 percent of the inland river transport is on the Yangzi, the equivalency to about 40 rail lines.

Three Gorges Dam

Shanghai is a very modern and cosmopolitan city, at least the areas we were in. Divided by the Huangpu river, the west side is full of historical areas,

West Side

while the east sky line is full of tall modern towers.

East Side

With only one day and two evenings in Shanghai, we know we missed some things, but we did get time to walk the Bund, the shore line of the river where all the old trading houses used to be and peoples square. Peoples Square is myriad of shops, cafes, that sell and serve most everything. Fancy Rolex and Tag Heuer watches were a specialty on the street, $50 could get you very best. We were left on our own for lunch, so we opted for a dumpling shop, where it was look and point as none of the staff had any English, and you know it turned out just fine.

Lunch in Shanghai

The evening was spent going to the Shanghai Circus World a circular theatre that hosts a wonderful acrobatic show, that includes contortionists, motorcycles in a cage, amazing trampoline artist, they leave the trampoline and use springboards and some of the most amazing acrobatic acts we have seen. If you ever make it to Shanghai this is show you should try and get to.

Our last night was a bit emotional, first one of the girls from the tour group had been adopted from China and this was her first visit home, so a welcome back to China cake was a surprise from her Canadian Parents at dinner that evening.

Hillary and her cake.

Then back to the hotel where we said our goodbyes to our tour leader, Leah.

Leah