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I'm a big Theodore Roosevelt fan, and his eponymous association with the "Teddy" Bear has always been synonymous in my mind with Panda Bears. I also gained political awareness during the Nixon years of the early 1970s and Panda bears were a big part of his legacy of establishing diplomatic ties with China: Ming Ming & Ling Ling were huge celebrities in the U.S. and I always felt distress & sadness that they had no surviving offspring.Panda Center.JPG
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In preparing a list of the "must see" animals of the world, pandas is second only to gorillas as the most evocative & endearing. With that emphasis, my wife, Gwynne, and I visited the home of Giant Pandas, the famous city of Chengdu in Southern China, specifically the successful panda research, nursery & tourist attraction. Panda numbers have doubled to 2000 due to their breeding program started just two decades ago. The park was Disneyland busy; apparently pandas are very popular with lots of Chinese people. Panda souvenirs are big too, especially in the city, and a small child in a panda suit is possibly the third most endearing animal to see.Panda.JPG