Chengdu – Staging for Tibet

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=””]After awakening from a well needed and deep sleep, we were all ready to begin our first full day in Chengdu, China. We woke for an early breakfast of traditional Chinese food: fried rice, potatoes, vegetables, and tea. We left quite early to visit the Panda Breeding Center on the other side of the city. We had two vans and had some great conversations on the way. The Center was fascinating and very popular! We got to see 8 or 9 Giant Pandas chilling in the tresi and munching on bamboo. The center keeps the young pandas – 2 or 3 years old – separate from the adult pandas and the pregnant pandas are kept in a separate enclosure as well. We were also fortunate enough to see a few Red Pandas – aka Lesser Pandas or ‘mountain fools’ as they are known. After the Panda Center we visited the Sechuan restaurant from yesterday again. It was great! We are all getting better at using chopsticks. We had time to relax in the afternoon and also worked on SStS coursework. For dinner, we walked to a traditional Tibetan restaurant for another incredible meal. We had yak meat for the first time and butter tea. Our guide in the city, Lhamo, told us her incredible story of life in Tibet and some of the struggles that go with it. It was a very humbling experience and allowed us to grasp some of the current problems Tibetans face.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]