Panda Inn at Wolong Panda Reserve, China - has ANYONE been there?

alison74

finallydebtfree!! wrote: »

Hi, sorry I havent replied sooner!

Im off on the 2nd sept for 18 days, flying to bejing and then travelling to various other places including xian, nanjing, shanghi and hong kong. its an escorted trip with travelsphere

actually looking at it I dont think I am going there oohh! and I wanted to go see the pandas

Your trip sounds good and a good introduction to China. For first timers and the language barrier, a tour IS a good way to do it. You might not be going to Wolong, but is Chengdu included in your itinerary ? There is a panda research centre there that you might go to.

Feel free to PM me if you want any general info on China, like the squat toilets you'll have to endure and eating as quick as you possibly can

alyth

ah, squat toilets - brings back memories! I went to Mutanyu to climb the wall there, went to the loos before I climbed the wall, squat toilets with a basket to put the toilet paper in (what toilet paper!). Spent about 6 hours on the wall, came back, had to use the toilet again - swimming, absolutely disgusting, and we only passed about 3 people the whole time we were on the wall!

OH's company has a huge base in China, so he goes out there a lot, and one of his people took us to what was quite frankly a really trendy, posh restaurant - went to the loo - squats again!

finallydebtfree!!

chengdu doesnt sound familiar, I know the trip includes a visit to bejing zoo.

have been told about the toliets, might forget packing clothes, will just pack 18 toliet rolls instead!

alyth

your visit to the zoo will last about 10 mins and you will only see the pandas - their conditions are bad enough, please don't go round the rest of the zoo - it is absolutely horrific, camels kept in conditions where they can't stand up properly, bears kept in a pit where people throw food at them. Two points about the zoo - there are loads of stray cats that just wander around, don't touch them, even though they lie there wanting to be stroked, and if you see any part of the zoo other than the pandas, take photos and send them to Born Free to highlight the awful conditions. Travelscope will probably take great pains to avoid you seeing the rest of the zoo, all tour companies do, I met many Americans there who were whisked to the pandas for 10 mins then whisked out again, and were unaware that there were other animals in the zoo. You'll lulled into a false sense of security with green space, etc once you get past the pandas, but then reality hits and it will make you cry.

Sorry, but I feel strongly about the zoo, I spent a lot of time there documenting what I saw, I saw a cat being killed on the main road right outside the zoo one day, and whilst China is a fantastic country to see, their policy with regards to animals doesn't mean much, underneath our hotel on a Sunday it was puppy and kitten day, where people could choose what they wanted for Sunday lunch!

finallydebtfree!!

had heard their treatment of animals was bad!