The black-and-white Panda Power heartthrob is irresistible—seeing pandas in Sichuan is what really matters!

The strong earthquake in Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan, made me, back in Taiwan, miss my previous reporting trip to Sichuan even more. Before arriving at the Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya’an, Sichuan, there was a light drizzle. Thinking about the next stop being a panda visit, both my photography colleague Weikai and I felt a sense of relief. He suddenly sighed and said, “Don’t you think this trip feels a lot like that previous company feature…”Photography Notes: “Small but Mighty.”“Hahahaha!” I laughed so hard I could barely breathe, agreeing wholeheartedly. Truly, who could have imagined what we’d go through in those three days.

Text & Photos / Mirror Media Weekly

Our flight, originally scheduled to arrive in Chengdu at 8:45 PM, was diverted to Chongqing due to heavy rain. With no new departure time, we were delayed for five hours and didn’t arrive at our hotel until 3 AM. After just a few hours of sleep, we jumped straight into the itinerary. At the first press conference, my photographer suddenly tumbled down the stairs—his flash broke, and his foot swelled up. Swollen foot and all, he kept going, covering construction sites, Taiwanese businesses, and railways. Then, by evening, he was sent to the hospital… (so small but mighty…)

Aside from factory lathes, the railway terminal for trains from Sichuan to Europe, the elevated train, the urban planning museum, and so on, we didn’t get to see any other sights. Even the dishes on our dining table had to be served on train or truck platters to give off that “Belt and Road” vibe (yes, we were actually there to report on the Belt and Road Initiative).

After being bombarded with the “Belt and Road” vibe for three whole days—endless images of massive train cars and colossal projects—we finally started a heartwarming itinerary on the fourth day. To prove we were a rational reporting team, before seeing the pandas, I put on a nonchalant face and told the photographer, “I don’t really like looking at big pandas.” The photographer replied, “I heard pandas actually smell pretty bad.” And then, the very next second, we both started screaming and frantically taking photos upon spotting a giant panda munching on bamboo in the distance, completely ignoring each other.

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