Pandas

When we arrived at the breeding center, we walked past the line hurrying to keep up with our guide as she clip-clopped ahead at an alarming rate given her three inch heels and short stature. We had come to see pandas - on the panda tour organized through Sim's Cozy Guest Hostel - and our guide would make sure we didn't miss their morning feeding.

Past Swan Lake, behind a holding pin, and out to an adult panda enclosure. There they were - only they weren't the docile, bamboo crunching bears I had expected. They were playing. Climbing, hanging, biting, rolling over each other playing. Cute they were though - unbelievably so. And when their squishy, fluffy bodies were bent or pulled too far they cried out with a meep more befitting a puppy than a bear, showed their pink little tongues, and carried on. Adorable.

Though reluctant to leave - our guide said she had never seen the adults so active - we continued down the age spectrum. The five month olds fulfilled my panda expectations. They relined with bamboo shots going every which way, chomping happily. At three months we found the fluff balls chasing each other around a nursery complete with rocking horse and incubator.

For a fee, you could have your photo taken with a panda. That was a bit too weird for our group so we moved on to the red pandas - which, to be honest, I barely knew existed -, the cinema - where a gaggle of Chinese kindergartners on field trip provided the majority of the entertainment -, the museum, and back to the van for the ride home.