I am happy, dirty, and bronzed by the sun. What a wonderful life this is! While the first few days at the conservation center provided some rather serious heat (read: sweet farmer's tans and unladylike sweating for me), the last couple have cooled off and brought a bit of refreshing rain. I've been working with the utmost devotion to the giant pandas, as they truly are the most beautiful animals on earth! Even if you're not an animal person, there's no denying a little love for the pandas.

The weekdays here have been the same since I last wrote: work with those slow-moving bandit-looking bears, exploration of the park, impromptu exchanges of English-Chinese lessons with the town's children or my keepers, and the consumption of too much delicious food during meals in town. Excellent! And I forgot to mention earlier that I seem to cause a bit of commotion around the park and town with my blond hair and light eyes. I can't figure out if I'm an oddity or a commodity, but I am pop-u-lar with the camera-toting population. Hayley and I constantly get bombarded with crowds of passersby who seem unable to blink or pull their chins off their collar bones because they're staring so hard. Then it's “Nihao! Hello!” and much motioning with cameras and totally awkward pictures with strangers. Right on... What do they go tell the people at home when the pictures are developed? “This is the stranger I met today. Cool, huh? She thought I was awesome at English and very hip. We're pretty good friends now.” Because really it's just a very odd and amusing exchange where I'm not sure which way to lean or whose hand is ever-so-slightly gracing my back. Yeah, Westerners in rural China!

On another note, today Hayley and I rode horses up into the mountains, and it was absolutely incredible. The horses were stunning, and the views were breathtaking the whole way. Guides took us to the top where there was a minute market full of jade, prayer flags and beads, food, and small wooden weaponry (yes!), and we were free to roam about and walk back down when we pleased. People made offerings at the small temple overlooking deep green valleys below and peaks hidden by mist above, and Hayley and I tied bright red and orange flags to the tips of tree branches sending wishes out with the wind.

After stopping a while to take in the scenery and fresh mountain air, we began the walk down the billions of stairs in the direction of town. We stopped in a clearing for a small picnic, were befriended by a beautiful 12 year-old Chinese girl, helped her with some English, and followed the young lady further downhill to a mind-blowing Taoist temple. As one of the main tenets of Taoism is balance between man and nature, this temple's many annexes seem to gracefully tumble down the mountain with the changing altitude (almost as though mountain and temple are one and the same). The many stairs and brightly painted murals wind up and down with the hills, and the tiled rooftops of the various buildings shimmer in the sun. Deep reds, blues, and greens abound, and incense wafts about as people make their offerings to nature. It's a pretty otherworldly place, and I fear that words could never do it justice. But, check my photos for a tiny vision of our day in the mountains!

Tomorrow Hayley and I will further explore the town and visit the renowned Japanese Bamboo Garden, and Monday is my final day at the park. This experience with i-to-i truly has been surreal and enriching beyond belief, and I highly recommend one of their programs to anyone interested in travel with a purpose beyond just individual satisfaction. Like I said in a past blog: spend your days giving, and your days will give back to you. That seems to be a very fitting motto for the i-to-i experience – give to the world, and it will give to you in ways you never imagined!

I must be off to bed now. I have a long couple of days ahead of me, as Tuesday morning I'm off to Thailand! Man oh man, the weeks are flying by...

Until next time,
Rachel