Ni hao PDXWildlife blog followers! Thank you for joining me for my first blog post from China!

This past Friday was my 26^th birthday (my “golden” birthday, turning 26 on the 26^th) and there were a few key events that made my birthday in China MUCH different from any birthday elsewhere. Let me lay it out for you.

Step 1:  Pandas

We started the day off like every other day at Bifengxia, with panda observations. But on this day, we were able to do our first experimental observations of male-male competition!

Jin Ke vs. Wu Gang. Hua Mei was the third side of the love triangle.

Step 2:  More pandas

The day continued with the first mating of the season, Hua Mei and Wu Gang.

It was a very exciting and eventful morning for all of us! My birthday was our lucky day, filled with many things to celebrate!

Step 3:  Noodles

Typically on your birthday, you have your favorite food for dinner, right? Same here. After work, we went out for noodles. Except when you have a bowl of noodles in China they aren’t just noodles. They are AMAZING, hand-pulled noodles, fresh from the shop next door! Mmm, I could eat those all day long. All. Day. Long.

From there, we went back to our apartment to meet up with the rest of the birthday brigade.

Step 4:  The most sincere “happy birthday” ever received

While waiting by our apartment, we encountered some local youths. We were holding a cake box and I was wearing a birthday crown, so it’s safe to assume they knew it was my birthday. One young lady in particular came right up to me, a stranger, took my hands and wished me the most sincere “happy birthday” I have ever received. We have encountered so many kind people during our first couple of weeks in Ya’an.

The Birthday Brigade

Step 5:  Fancy, delicious birthday cake; panda décor included.

Meg was so nice and got a super cute cake with intricate decorations including pandas and hash-tags. Our new friends, James and Sunny, picked up a cake as well! James helps with anything we need help with, and Sunny is going to be helping us with our Chinese language skills. Two cakes!!! Again, there are so many kind people here.

Step 6:  Pop-open lotus candles

To top off my two cakes, Meg brought the coolest candle in the world. A lotus candle that “blooms” when lit and plays a birthday song!

https://youtu.be/DyOtmlutb8E

I’m going to have to bring a few of those back with me.

Step 7:  KTV

When in China, karaoke (known as KTV here)! James reserved a private karaoke room for our party, complete with snacks and drinks. Our particular singing session included many hits from the legendary Miss Brittney Spears and the Backstreet Boys, along with a new favorite of ours, “Cartoon Heroes,” and classics from Titanic and The Lion King. It was a solid night of karaoke fun!

1) KTV signs that signal singing fun inside, 2) Nicki and Alyssa posing as Jack and Rose from Titanic during “My Heart Will Go On”, 3) Alyssa rocking out

And that, my friends, is how a birthday in China is done! Stay tuned for more of our adventures in and around Ya’an and Bifengxia Panda Base!

-Alyssa