Working with Giant Pandas!

A once in a lifetime service opportunity!

We started off our day by heading over to the Panda Center, a beautiful100 acre sanctuary and research center that is only five years old. Our group suited up in at 8:30am to start off our work. We went into the panda enclosures where we scooped poop, picked up bamboo shoots, swept, and weeded. After we cleaned their enclosures we split bamboo to use to feed them. The keepers then released the pandas back into their home environment and it ran straight for its food. Fun fact: pandas eat 80 pounds of bamboo a day. Then we got the chance to walk around for an hour and watch the pandas live there lives, from dangling from trees to rolling down hills.

Once we regrouped we lined up and were given two bamboo shoots to feed a panda close up. He sat there patiently and it seemed like he was staring right into your soul as we placed the shoot into his mouth. He also seemed very gentle and at peace.

After that, we took a 5 minute walk outside the sanctuary to a local, tradition restaurant to grab a quick meal. Along with lunch we all learned Mah-jongg. Once we finished lunch we headed back to the center where we went and fed the pandas once more.

We then said goodbye to the pandas and we went into the kitchen, where we made panda cakes. These cakes are made to give the pandas calcium for their bones, sugar for energy, and corn for nutrition. We shaped the dough into our own unique creations. After finishing our masterpieces we did some shopping for souvenirs, and headed to our bus. Today was an action packed, and overall memorable adventure to help one of China’s most valuable treasures.

By Ruby and Emily