Home of the Giant Pandas (and red pandas too!)

We recently came back from a short trip to Chengdu, China in the Sichuan province.  It is famous for being the home of giant pandas, Sichuan food (yes, even the non-spicy items felt spicy to me), and 变脸 Biàn Liǎn.

With all things nature, it can be quite unpredictable with animals.  We were lucky with good panda weather (raining and cool) and delighted to see a lot of activity at the Chengdu Research Base. 

Warren and I were reflecting that we both enjoy animal experiences and have had a chance to see such a wide range: gorillas in Uganda, elephants in Thailand, wombats in Tasmania, and safaris in Tanzania.  The pandas are right up there for uniqueness.  So even through the girls prefer stuffed animals over the real ones, we thought it was a wonderful visit. 

After seeing the pandas, the kids really enjoyed the 变脸 performance.  There was music, dance, and comedy.  

A few things I appreciate about being back in Taiwan are: 1) clean bathrooms wherever you go - for anyone with a recently potty-trained toddler, you will understand this!  2) lines 3) more gentle sales techniques.  I think living in China for a year would have been very difficult for me with culture shock. 

We've now finalized our excursion trips for the year.  W got started on the calendar Tetris so the kids do not miss school.  Lexi doesn't want to miss out on "perfect attendance".  Ellie requested scheduling our trips to miss school on Thursday's as that is her weekly Chinese test.  The sibling differentiation is real.  

• Warren: Bali & Komodo Island Indonesia for the Komodo dragons (Jan 2025)
• Mel: Kyoto, Japan for the cherry blossoms (Mar 2025)
• Lexi: Chengdu, China for the giant pandas (Oct 2024). She also voted for Komodo dragons. 
• Ellie: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for the underground tunnels.  She also voted for Komodo dragons. (Jan 2025)
• Tori: Hong Kong for Disneyland (May 2025). She also voted for the mall. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm already jealous of my kids' international travel at such a young age.  My hope is that these experiences expand their worldview, but I also have a fear of entitlement.  As we grow as a family, I want to expose them to how big the world is and to grow in gratitude and generosity.  I definitely welcome ideas from folks who have thought about that juxtaposition of privilege and avoiding entitlement.  In the meantime, we're working on having grateful hearts for all that we're experiencing this year - the good and the hard.