A National Treasure

One of the national treasures of China is the panda bear. We are extremely fortunate to be adopting from the Sichuan Province which houses the National Panda Preservation. Today was a field trip of sorts. Four couples with their new daughters venturing out to one of the prize tourist attractions in all of China. It was very fun, and I must say that Gwen loved it. She pointed and smiled and exclaimed about the panda bear (chung mao). We were all taken by the beauty of this animal and enjoyed watching them as they methodically sat and ate bamboo leaves galore.

In the past, China has "gifted" panda bears to the United States. However, recently they have been "renting" them. In October, Tai Shan was brought to the Washington DC Zoo. He will be there for 3 years (for the bargain price of $10M). If you are in the area, I would hightly recommend that you stop by for a visit. They are quite unique. We will hope take our new treasure there to get re-acquainted with a national treasure of her birthplace sometime in the next few years. In the mean time... stuffed animals will have to do.