It’s been a week since I’ve arrived in China and I already feel as though it has been the experience of a lifetime. I arrived in Ya’An on the 20th of March feeling extremely jet-lagged from the almost 3 day trip but within a couple of days was right on track and feeling much better. If I wrote in detail about all of my experiences this week, this blog post would be extremely long so I will try to keep it short.
My first week at the panda base was really hectic as Meg tried to introduce me to everyone while juggling data collection and explaining the usual routine. However, I feel as though everything went well and I’ve already learned so much that I feel like I’m definitely going to leave China with a wealth of knowledge about giant pandas and a profound understanding of the role breeding programs play in conservation. Just as I began to feel comfortable with everything, it was time to say bye to Meg, Nate, and Dee (their daughter) who went back home.
The panda base was very busy and this week alone I’ve met people from all over the world who came to visit the pandas. Some of them can tell the pandas apart just by looking at them – and I’m getting there! I’ll probably be able to distinguish the pandas from one another just in time for me to fly back to Canada! Here are some pictures that I’ve taken of the pandas:
Su Lin
A Ling
Female Panda in Tree
Sleeping Baby Panda
Other than the panda base, which is of course my favorite place to be right now, I have found that everyone in the city is very nice. Here are some of the pictures I’ve taken around the city to give you a bit of an idea what it’s like:
The Old Bridge in Ya’An
Bridge Night View
The view from the panda base
The view (again)
I’ve also found that pretty much everyone we’ve spoken with is interested in hearing about our research. We’ve discussed the mate preference study with many people. Here’s a picture of Meg doing an interview about pandas and conservation for a group of students who were visiting from Egypt:
Meghan’s Interview with Egypt students
Overall, this week has been very interesting and I can’t wait to look back at everything I’ve learned over my 3 months here.
-Steph