giant pandas

For those that know me well, you know I have a bit of an obsession with giant pandas. It began when I was a baby, when my dad used to called me 'Miranda Panda" because it rhymed and it made me laugh when he said it. Well, that got shortened to just Panda, or Panda girl, which I apparently used to my advantage as a preschooler. My mom has tons of stories of me wanting something, my dad saying no, then I would "cry" and look at him very mournfully and say, "But I'm your Panda girl", which always pushed him over the edge. Unfortunately for me, it's doesn't quite work anymore (trust me, I've tried).

This week is China week on the Travel Channel, in honor of the upcoming Olympic Games. One of my dreams has always been to travel to China and see the giant pandas at the giant panda reserve.

Last night, Samantha Brown did a show on Sichuan province, where the Cohen Giant Panda Breeding Research Foundation is located in a village called Chengdu. It rocked. Come to find out, not only is it open to the public, but for an extra $200, you can get the "backstage" tour, where you actually get to see baby pandas in their incubators that have just been born and get to play with the cubs outside in the cub habitat. I could actually play with real live giant panda cubs. For just a bit more (like $125), you can even hold one to get your picture taken and cuddle and such.

Anyone want to go to China with me?