The earthquake

Our field trip to Mount QingCheng, one of the most famous Taoist mountains in China, was slated for the morning of April 20th at 8am.  Gathering a group of 20+ students in China always proved to be an interesting endeavor. On this particular Saturday, many of us were late leaving the hotel.  The speed walking turned into a jog as we ran through the streets trying to reach the bus on time. When we arrived at the bus, everyone was a buzz, asking if we had felt the earthquake.  Oddly enough, as sensitive as I claim to be, I hadn’t felt a thing. The experienced Californians in the group calmly guided everyone in the middle of the street during the shaking. Thankfully, it wasn’t a huge earthquake for Chengdu but it did trigger some memories of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan which caused almost 70, 000 deaths.

The pandas

We rerouted the field trip to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding since Mount QingCheng was affected in the last earthquake. We tried to carry on, thankful that everyone was ok and praying that others in the area were safe.

The pandas distracted us from the earthquake except for the helicopters flying overhead.  They were cuter in person than I could have imagined! Although I confess I had thoughts of dipping them into a bit of Clorox to whiten their dirty white fur.

Seeing the pandas was a delight but contemplating their destiny was rather depressing. They cannot tolerate the heat very well so they often spend times inside with air conditioning. The constant crowds of tourists yelling “How cute!!” around these solitary creatures seemed counterproductive to their well-being.

Thankfully, the rose garden near the exit was uplifting and oxygenating. We had been in the city for only a week but I was in desperate need of nature and greenery. The rose garden was one of the most exquisite I have ever seen.  I wanted to say there.  I returned to the hotel with the rest of my classmates with a few rose petals in my pocket.