08.01.06
About Panda
Pandas, the national treasure of China has got to be one of the cutest and rarest animals on earth. A little while ago, I traveled to Chengdu to shoot a Discovery Channel program, and I got the chance of a lifetime to come in close contact with this rare species. At first, my idea of how a panda would look and feel like is soft and fluffy, with full white and black fur. After arriving at the Panda Research Institute, what I saw were quite a few of these cute animals sitting around chewing on their bamboo sticks and leaning against a tree. A couple others decide to be playful and started a wrestling match among themselves. After observing for awhile, I noticed that they are not too white, but actually kind of brown. I asked some of the people there why they are brown, and they told me that it is because these pandas love to roll around on the ground all day, and even if they wash them everyday, they still get dirty by rolling on the ground all day.
They are very cute animals and they lead a good life. All they do all day is eat bamboos, sleep, and go to the toilet. Boy do I wish I was a panda after seeing the way they live their lives!!
Then came the chance of a lifetime… Because we are doing a television shoot, they allowed us to actually go next to the pandas and film them while they were eating their bamboo. Of course I got to be the lucky one to step within the boundaries and stand behind a panda and do the filming. I even got to touch a panda with my own hands!! Most people can only look at a panda in a picture, but to be able to see one in person and to touch one? That is something a lot of people can only dream about! After touching them, I realized that their hair is actually kind of coarse and prickly, but that doesn’t matter… I was still able to touch one!!!
So needless to say, I got my camera out and asked our crew to just go trigger happy and take as many pictures as he could. It is one thing to hear or see something precious in a book or on TV or something, but to be able to go up close and get personal with them is a whole different experience!!