So yeah, this morning, we took a crazy taxi ride to the giant panda breeding site to see Tao-Tao and his giant panda brothers and sisters.
Here's the thing - pandas are lazy. VERY lazy. They sleep most of the day, scratch themselves occasionally and eat when they are fed. They also don't like hot weather too much.
Today was 28 degrees in Chengdu and the pandas were extremely lazy.
We managed to look at some awake (and semi-awake) of these beauties, but most of them were either sleeping or napping. Still - they were gorgeous! :)
The breeding program is a true blessing to this almost extinct species and the Chinese have done wonders with it.
When we got back to the hotel, they informed us that our new upgraded room was ready for us, and, indeed, we got a junior suite on the top floor of the hotel (22nd floor) with a nice view to the town's river and a lot of space to move in. :)
Later this afternoon we went to Jinli old street in Chengdu, which is a reconstructed pedestrian street in old Sichuan style. It was really lovely.
Later in the evening we went to a local supermarket to get some groceries, but when we saw the hundreds of people in line at the cashiers, we turned around and headed back to the hotel, only to have a very lame dinner.
Tomorrow, we're off to Chongqing, by the Yangzie river. We're getting there by train (350 km in 2.5 hours - not the ultra speed trains we got used to, but still - pretty quick).
G'night! :)