Warning: Wai Guo Ren on the Loose!: Pandas and the Grand Buddha

The first two weeks while I was here in China were absolutely amazing. We spent a lot of time preparing for our teaching jobs and we got to go see some amazing tourist attractions here in the Chengdu area. The first attraction that we went to see was the panda research center. It was basically a giant zoo dedicated to all the different types of pandas. We got to see giant pandas, red pandas, and also little baby pandas. It was absolutely amazing.

Here are some pictures from the Chengdu Panda Research Center:

This group of pictures consists of the giant panda. These particular giant pandas were very playful. As you can see from some of the pictures below one panda climbed onto the bench that another was sleeping on and they played for some time. It was very funny to watch.

There were pandas playing in trees (a little hard to see)...

Sleeping Pandas...

Momma pandas playing with their cub...

The red pandas were much smaller and seemed to have a lot more freedom at the research center. We got very close to a couple of them.

And a peacock...

The baby pandas...

We also went to the Grand Buddha in Leshan. This was an absolutely amazing sight to see. According to Wikipedia, the Grand Buddha in Leshan took around 90 years to construct. The construction started in 713. The construction of the Buddha was originally intended to calm the river at the base of the Buddha. The Buddha is absolutely enormous. It stands 71 meters (233 ft.) tall. We took a very narrow and steep series of stairs to get to the bottom of the Buddha. The monastery around the Grand Buddha was also a very cool place.

Here are some pictures:

People crowding around the Grand Buddha's giant head...