Panda-ring to our tastes

Sichuan is the land of the Panda, and Chengdu houses one of the world's foremost breeding centers. To visit it requires either a tour, or a difficult bus route involving a change between two stations.

Not many of the backpackers here wanted to attempt the bus, but Nicole and I have been impressed with the willingness of the people to help wayward westerners. So we set off with the Chinese names of where we wanted to go, and plenty of hope.

Luckily, it turned out to be a complete disaster. When we got off at our appointed station, we could not find the right bus, mainly because it was no longer running. The substitute route, unmarked in our instructions, left from the back corner of a cavernous bus station. How would we ever find it?

The key was simply to walk around the bus station looking like a complete idiot (difficult for you, perhaps, but we find it comes quite naturally). Within a few minutes of wandering, and all sorts of people pointing us in this direction or that, and we easily found the new bus. In fact, no less than five people piled off it to study our Chinese directions, and pantomimed us into getting on.

We owe them all a big favor, because there's nothing more wonderful than looking at a panda. I, being a part time journalist, might be prone to cynicism. I know a few colleagues who could eyeball a panda playing with a ball and say, "Great, it's a panda, very cute, now where's the bar?" But not me. Those roly-poly little fur balls are absolutely delightful.

Sadly, though, their environment is shrinking and if Chengdu is any indication, there's not much hope for restraint. When it comes to pollution, the city puts all others (including itself quite literally) in the shade. It is a mass of construction, dust, and ugly, faceless buildings, punctuated by the crushed remains of old apartment blocks waiting to be resurrected into malls and bypasses.

If you're ever find yourself with a warm feeling for Ayn Rand, and believe the market and unrestrained capitalism will always provide for the peoples' good, come to Chengdu and breathe in the retort to her arguments. It will be marvelously instructive.