The Black and White
Jincheng Lake, Chengdu
As the plane descends through waves of clouds and I stare out the window beside me, I’m met with the pleasant sight of green. Hills and mountains and trees for miles to see. It is quite the contrast from the towering buildings and city lights that usually greet me on my typical entries into London or Shenzhen. The wheels have barely squealed on touchdown, and I can already feel that things are different here. Feelings confirmed once again 20 minutes later on my taxi ride into the city. It’s a short ride, but plenty of time to wonder at the expanse of blue sky and the trees brandished in their autumnal colours of gold and red. There’s an air of calm around, a naturalness, a serenity. Quiet that Shenzhen doesn’t offer. I’ve arrived in Chengdu.
As a city that’s been high on my list since arriving in China, it’s taken me all of 6 years to finally get there. But on first appearances, it’s certainly a place I will be returning to. I knew this short stay over the Christmas break wasn’t going to be anywhere near enough time to scratch the surface of what this enchanting place has to offer. But that wasn’t going to stop my trying.
Food, tourist attractions, and nature were all on the list of things to do in the little time I had. But seeing as though pandas are as an iconic part of China as the Great Wall itself, neither of which I’d visited until this trip, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding jumped right to the top of my visiting list.
Sichuan Hotpot. As spicy as it looks!
Sunset atop Emei mountain
The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding
Being the natural home of pandas, visiting Sichuan wouldn’t be complete without finding and photographing one of these black and white furballs. As much as I’d have liked to see them in their natural habitat, as with all wildlife, that was certainly not going to happen in a week’s holiday. So, after an early start and a 40-minute taxi ride, I arrived at the research base just after 8am. Christmas holidays are a fantastic time to travel in China as it’s unsurprisingly not really a celebrated holiday here. So much so that when I arrived, I thought the centre was closed because there were no queues or even people buying tickets or entering the park. Maybe I’m just too used to the manic busyness of Shenzhen these days.
Now, it’s not like I haven’t seen a panda before, they’re in zoos and safari parks all around the country, and I was even lucky enough to see some little cubs bumbling around at Taipei zoo when I visited. But the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding is a whole other experience in itself.
As a significant tourist attraction, I had half expected it to be a lot more similar to a zoo than it was. Education is at the forefront of every part of the park, from signs dotted along paths showing significant events that have happened each year, to the panda kitchen where you can learn about and watch how the panda’s nutrition is taken care of.
What stood out for me, however, was the intimate experience you get to have with these animals. There are very few areas where the pandas aren’t out in the open, one of these being the little babies. This is understandable as, for lack of a better word, young cubs are useless. Blind, furless and very vulnerable at birth, they need a lot the care and attention to survive. I was lucky enough to see one a couple of months old, swimming around on the floor and trying to escape its little basket.
I should point out that when I say out in the open, the pandas are still in enclosures, but these are simply natural areas with walls. No glass, no cages, just fresh air. That, however, is a little different when it comes to the walk-through red panda enclosure, which offers the fantastic opportunity to be within touching distance as they jump over pathways or climb through the trees and wooden poles around the area.
All these factors lead to me being able to capture the images you’ve been seeing. A few of which are some of my favourite photos that I’ve ever taken and have been digitally showcased as part of photography exhibitions at Blank Wall Gallery in Athens, and Valid World Hall in Barcelona.
Definitely check out the galleries and see the amazing competition winners’ photos and the awesome digital winners as well.
As someone interested in wildlife and nature, a big part of my photography, especially with wildlife, is being outside for hours on end, waiting for that lucky moment when the opportunity arrives to make a photo. In general, I shy away from taking pictures in zoos and sharing them because I enjoy showing animals in their natural habitat and doing natural things despite the time and effort it might take to get a photo.
In a way, I know anyone can go to a zoo or safari park and get a nice shot of an exotic animal, but for me, it’s as much about the experience as it is the end result. In fact, some of the best experiences I’ve had in nature haven’t even produced a final photo. I’ve either missed the shot altogether, not had time to take one, messed up the settings so much it’s unsavable, or even just decided not to take the shot. The experience is still there, and that’s 90% of why I’m out taking photos. Visiting the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, on the other hand, was not a chance I would pass up to try to capture some great photos of both giant pandas and red pandas. And I hope you’ll agree it was worth it.
If I’m ever lucky enough to have the time and the opportunity to try and photograph pandas in the wild, red or giant, I will certainly take it. Still, for now, I’m happy with getting as close as I could to these wonderful creatures in as natural a setting as possible. The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding is truly a wonderful experience and shows just how much we can do for conserving wildlife and the natural world if we really invest in it.
If you ever have the opportunity of visiting Chengdu, make sure to stop by and see these fluffy creatures. There are also many other research facilities around Sichuan, and who knows, maybe you’ll be the lucky one that bumps into a wild giant panda on a hike through the mountains.
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Check out the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding to learn more about the pandas and what they do at the research centre as well as see loads more pictures of pandas - www.panda.org.cn/
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Head over to Instagram to check out more images of wildlife I’ve been capturing this year.
