One of the worries coming out of the May 12 earthquake was the possibility that panda births would be down this year. But to many people’s surprise, this has not been the case. In fact, since July 2008, there have been 14 cubbies born in Bifengxia!
Guo Guo - twins on 6 July
Ying Ying - single cub on 13 July
Long Xin - twins on 21 July
Bai Xue - twins on 26 July
Cao Cao - twins on 6 August
Fei Fei - single cub on 8 August
Zhang Ka - single cub on 26 August
Zhu Yun - twins on 3 September
Ye Ye - single cub on 14 September
Probably the most special birth is Fei Fei’s cub born on the first day of the 2008 Olympic Games.
She is Feng Yi, the giant panda cub I adopted in 2006. I’d named her Yoong Ping for my parents and also in memory of my niece, but have grown used to calling her by her official name.
Feng Yi.
I first met her last year when I went to Wolong, and she’d kept walking away from me. This year, she didn’t; she couldn’t as she was behind “bars” (to the animal activists reading this, if there are any - don’t get upset, it’s not cruel bars she was behind).
Last year, I visited her after she turned 1. This year, I visited her at the Beijing Zoo before she turned 2. I hope I will get to visit her on her birthday one of these days.
Judy, a fellow panda lover, asked if I’d asked her keepers at Beijing Zoo to give her something on her birthday. I hadn’t. But as I told her, we don’t need to do something for the ones we love - what matters is the heart, that we love them. And we can do something for them at other times of the year.
I did get to feed her during the visit. While in Bifengxia, I’d mentioned I’d be going onto Beijing and Cindy from the admin offices kindly called Wu Daifu, the head keeper, to tell him of my visit, and he’d said for me to contact him. So, as “mother” of one of the 8 Olympic pandas currently in Beijing as part of the Olympic attractions, I was honoured with a visit to the keepers’ quarters, to view the 8 pandas from a privileged vantage point, to watch Feng Yi in her training, and to feed her, too.
You can say my feeding her was our birthday present to each other this year.
She remains as feisty as ever.
There were 2 of them in training that day - her and Huan Huan. She went first, after which, they switched places, and she went into the enclosure next door. But she was restless. She knew what was going on in the next enclosure, and more importantly, what was available there - food! So she paced the enclosure and scratched the door, and even climbed on Duo Duo, who happened to be in the same enclosure with her.
Well, it’s exactly a week since I came home from my excellent panda adventure. (A week ago this time, I was in Beijing, getting my luggage together to wait for my taxi to the airport.)
Apart from posting a video on 16 August, I haven’t updated my blog. In fact, I haven’t done much writing, and the AlphaSmart Neo is still in its neoprene case since arriving home.
What is wrong with me?
Actually, I’ve been ill - cold and sore throat, plus I stubbed my little right toe on the corner of a door in my sister’s house, which turned a sickly green 24 hours later - so I haven’t felt up to doing much.
I have managed to miss two birthdays so far, and if I persist in this state, will miss a third birthday.
The two birthdays were Mei Sheng’s on 19 August, and his half-sister Hua Mei’s on 21 August. They turned 5 and 9 respectively.
I saw them both during the Bifengxia part of my excellent panda adventure. Here are 2 pictures.
Mei Sheng in his favourite spot up in the trees:
Hua Mei, with wowotou in one paw and apple slice in the other:
Memories are not preserved in photographs, but in the heart and mind.
I’m on my last day of what Marilou calls “Chet’s Excellent Adventure”. I’ve spent 11 days helping out at the Bifengxia Panda Base, followed by two full days of Olympic panda watching at the Beijing Zoo.
I’ve taken nearly 600 pictures and at least 10 videos on my humble Nikon CoolPix 5900. Maybe not as much as I should but then, all I have in it is a 2GB memory card.
And then, on this very last day of my excellent adventure, I miss the two most important photography moments of the whole trip. Especially for the second one, in perfect hindsight, I realised I should’ve shot on video since the place was too dark and flash was not allowed.
It was then I realised that even without the photographs, I still have those moments etched in my heart and my mind. And I can still share them not in pictures but in words.
The first “missed” moment
Keeper Liu Juen was out in the public display with a pan of panda wowotou (bread) for 7 of the 8 Olympic pandas. I was not aware she had gone out with it, since the pandas were all asleep the last time I looked in on them (from the window of the keepers’ control room). So when I heard her voice, I went to look out the window, just in time to see her lead the pack of hungry pandas, trip, fall and get swarmed by the 7 black and white furry cuties. By the time she surfaced, the pan was empty. Usually, she would lead them on a merry jog before rewarding them with the wowotou, but today, they got their treats without having to do anything much.
The second “missed” moment
I’d asked to be allowed to watch the pandas come in after a day of public display. So at 6:00 p.m., Liu Juen said “we’re bringing in the pandas” and beckoned me to join them downstairs.
Three of the pandas were already in.
Duo Duo was in an enclosure of her own, and remained there even after the others had come in. She’d not been eating her bamboo and the keepers had kept her out of public display so that she could concentrate on some serious eating.
Feng Yi and Huan Huan were together in a second enclosure, where they’d undergone some training earlier this afternoon. The door to their enclosure was opened and they were led out to go into the big common enclosure. OMG, I was in the same space with two giant pandas and without any bars between us! One of them, sensing a strange presence (me), turned left towards me instead of right towards the big common enclosure, but was immediately blocked by Liu Juen and redirected in the right direction.
Then the hollering began. Now, the three keepers are all from Sichuan, and like people from Sichuan, they are LOUD! Even in normal conversation, they sound like they’re having a serious argument. So their lungs are in excellent condition for hollering for the other 5 bears to come back in. Four came in almost on cue, but the fifth, Tao Tao, lagged behind but finally showed up. The door behind him slid shut for the day.
In a moment, all 7 were lined up squatting in front of the divider bars. I’d had problems shooting without flash - I was told no flash because it would affect their eyes - so I decided not to take any photographs but just enjoy the moment.
Down the corridor, I saw keeper Gao Qiang approaching with a metal container. It was full of wowotou. As soon as the pandas saw him, their line broke as they stood up and jostled to get the wowotou. At one end, Chui Chui did not join in the “fight” - clever girl, as she knew the wowotou would come to her without her having to fight for it.
Soon, there was no more jostling as each panda settled back to munch on their piece of wowotou.
Looking back, I regretted not taking any pictures, and forgetting that I can take videos instead. I tried to console myself that even if I had video’d the moment, it would’ve come out too grainy. Then I realised a far more perfect recording machine than a digital camera - my heart and my mind. I may not have physical evidence of this precious moment, and my heart and mind may not have the capability to print out a hard copy, but the moment has been “recorded” and saved for playback anytime I wish.
