I Love them. The are wonderfully lazy and when they are awake all they seem to do is eat but they are so very cute. Gaint Panda's indeed, it makes them sound vicious, I'd give them all a big hug....and tried!!

We ...ddddrr....took a tour and headed off with surprisingly likeminded travellers to the Chengdu Panda Reserch centre at the ungodly hour of 7.30am. The beers may be 30p but you do feel it in the morning.

As usual for China (it just rubs off on you) we all pushed and shoved to get to the Panda's first. We did'nt realise this place was huge, or that they were still alseep and the best uncrowded near private views would be later.

It really was very special to be able to stand mere feet from them eating their daily feed of bamboo, slowly slowly moving across the bridges to go and sit with their mates....or sleep somemore.

These panda's need to be here because there are only 1000 left in the world. Noooooooo save the Panda's! The ultimate goal is to re-introduce them into the wild. Sichuan province is where they are from and the centre is world renouned.

To see the babies was a tear jerking moment. They were in little incubators like in a ward for premature babies. They looked as if they shouldnt have been born yet, no fur, unable to move and hardly able to bottle fed. No wonder so many die naturally, their mothers would just crush them.

We were lucky enough to be invited to hold and cuddle a red panda. They look a bit like a racoon with big bushy tails and they loved the attention. It was all done very professionally, gloves, surgical coats, the works.

3 hours was enough time, especially as we were graced with a monsoon type downpour at about 10.30. All is good, we've seen the Panda's. I never thought I would see so many animals on this world trip, I feel really lucky. It was great that my Mum was there too. I bet she never though she would see Panda's...or are they in Chester zoo? I told some Chinese people on our next overnight train ride about our experience, wondering if they had visited the famous attraction that brings tourists from around the globe. They said there was no need, they'd seen them on the tele!