"Ivan Paying the Fine at the Post Office in Taoyuan" (right)

The entire next day was spent at police station doing  paper work with
little forays out to telephone Air Canada and to pay the fine at the post office.
And, of course, returning with the receipt that proved we had successfully accomplished this task.
At one point they said we had to go back to Hsinchu and pay it there. 
It seemed that each employee had a different opinion regarding how to deal
with our situation. And, along with us, there were dozens of other people 
in line hoping to have their particular problems successfully resolved before
the end of the day.
We had to call Air Canada (as I mentioned at the beginning) but where do we
call from? In desperation we ended up asking a total stranger at the Taoyuan Cultural Centre for help. She kindly took us to a public telephone and found us
the correct overseas phonecard to buy. When you don't speak Chinese it is
almost impossible to do certain things by yourself and we were enormously
grateful for her assistance. I felt she was no less than an angel.

We were the very last people in the police station that evening; that's how long
it took for everything to be sorted out. And, even at the final moment, just when the last papers were to be stamped, someone came along to say that the correct process had not been followed. As proof there is a God, the woman who had seen us through much of the day put an immediate stop to the idea of starting all over again!!! When we left the police station we were positively euphoric with relief!!
No jail! We had permission to leave! Hurray! All that remained to be done was to find a meal that evening that didn't feature chicken blood and then get to the
airport the next day.

"Pandas Waking Up" (left)
After spending the next eight months in Canada 
we left for China. We were there for one month
before returning to Taiwan. Just before our
departure we went to the Panda Sanctuary near
Chengdu. This is the  letter I wrote to Kate
(my grandmother) describing the day:

Dear Kate;
It's 11:00am and we just returned from an adventure that
started at 5:30am this morning when the alarm went off.
I had only slept for about 2 and 1/2 hours so I wasn't at all
raring to go...I needed convincing from Ivan that this trip
was really worth doing. He said, "I think we should go. When
will you ever get the chance to do drawings of pandas if you
don't do it today?" True, very true.....

So, by 6:30 am, in the pitch darkness and the drizzling rain,
we met up with 4 other people (who were also determined to
do the trip although we all looked as though we'd rather still
be sleeping cozily). There at the front gates of the school
compound awaited us two rogue taxis (men with cars but
without cab licenses).Off we zoomed....and I didn't pick that
word lightly!!!

Our drivers sped along at a frightening speed, under shadowy
overpasses, past ghostly apartment buildings, past the legions
of gardeners who tend the flowers, trees, and shrubs along
the sides of the expressways. Only the panda seekers and
the gardeners are out before sunrise...oh, yeah, there was a
smattering of other vehicles on the move, too....including
three motorcycles travelling in tandum each with a dead pig
slung across behind on the passenger's seat, driving through
the rain. And, they were very large dead pigs (just so you can
get a good "visual" on this!)

"Young Panda" (right)
After about an hour we arrived at the gates
of the panda park, sanctuary, and breeding facility.
I think it's the biggest one in the world, which
makes sense since pandas are native
to this area.

The sky showed only a hint of daylight as
we bought our tickets and entered the forest.
Soon Ivan and I struck out on our own and were 
awed to find ourselves walking along paths
with bamboo growing on each side, leaning inwards
to create long covered walkways of pure wonder.
We were all alone with the black shadows and
glistening bamboo leaves, walking through rain
and mist. This was so glorious that I already felt
it was well worth getting up so early even if we
didn't get to see pandas at all. We approached
a clearing in which there were orange streaks
in the almost darkness. I was very puzzled. What
was this that I was looking at? As my eyes strained
to make sense, I finally understood that I was looking 
at orange carp, suspended in the waters of the pond
and as still as the morning. Their bodies looked like
streaking comets caught in time.

 Winding paths and stone steps took us to panda
enclosures. Each enclosure contained elaborate
multi-leveled "tree house" platforms made from
wooden poles lashed together with rope. Our first
panda sighting was of a sleeping adult...all tucked in
with it's forehead resting on the same surface as
it's body...it looked like a giant furry egg! Then we
saw others slumbering (Lord, we got there so early
even the pandas were still sleeping!). I've seen
pandas in photos, of course, but nothing can prepare
you for seeing them in real life.

"Pandas in the Morning" (left)

We went to the adolescent panda enclosure where
things were livening up. We saw a panda scratching
it's back vigorously on a pole while another was
yawning before returning to snoozeland. 

Close by a panda was intent on pushing another
one off the platform, much to Ivan's horror. I thought
Ivan would scale the fence and jump the moat just to
save the panda  from falling. But, he needn't have
worried because a third panda joined the fray and nipped
the pushy panda inside the thigh!! That settled everything
down right away! Really it was all in fun.  They are rollypolly,
flexible, and strong all rolled into one.

Suddenly, far from being alone in the park, hoards of people
seemed to instantly descend upon us as we peacefully
watched the young pandas. Why? Because obviously
each and every one of them knew the precise minute
of their scheduled feeding time. We put this together
when a keeper came up with a wheelbarrow of fresh
bamboo...breakfast time!!  And, when the pandas started
eating we knew why they were the star attraction!

Four of them sat in a row with their backs against a low
wall, feet out infront, munching on bamboo like they were
celery sticks. The tough ends (that weren't succulent) they
just dropped on their bellies and reached over with their
agile paws (are we sure they don't have thumbs?) to grab
another piece. Some had one in each hand as not to
waste a second. It was unbeliebably cute and endearing,
with their dear little faces all in bliss.

"The Hoards" were from all over the world and although
the signs said the pandas needed quiet, they were mostly
a yappy bunch. But, at least their interest was pandas and
not bullfighting (for instance)...well, maybe the piratey
Russians would like to watch bullfighting given the......

"Sisters and Brothers" (right)

...opportunity, but the majority 
looked as though gentler pursuits
were their cup of tea. Speaking
of tea... a man from Britian
(wearing a hat that was an umbrella)
told me that his wife has a collection
of 90 panda bears. I said, "Wow!
then she must be very happy to be
here today!"

The pandas appear to be
exceptionally good natured,
innocent and full of fun. Well, they
must be because for the price of
a barrel of gold you can stand
beside one and have your
picture taken. They aren't offering
that service at the Grizzly
Sanctuary, are they now?

We also visited the pandas nursery
that you can view through a large
window. A woman was cleaning the
wooden crib/playpen when we were
there so we only saw the tops of
the two little cubs sleeping in a
temporary holding box. They looked
like black and white cotton balls.

Before this visit to the sanctuary I didn't
give pandas much thought one
way or another...but, now that I've
seen them in real life I think they are
enchanting and I'd say to anyone that
it's worth the effort to go see them if
you have the chance. But, what in the
world isn't worth seeing when you think
about it?

"Bamboo Breakfast" (left)

I'm really glad we had the chance to see
the pandas waking up and moving around
in the serenity of the early morning (it was
like having the whole park to ourselves for
some precious priceless time) before the
stampeding infidels roared onto the scene!

We also saw red pandas which I only
vaguely remembered existed.  Red
pandas are endangered mostly by lack
of habitat but, also for their pelts. They
are also captured for pets. I can see
why you'd want to take one home.
They look like a cat, fox, and bear all
combined into one animal that looked
like it walked out of a Dr. Suess book!
They are about as big as a medium
sized dog with a long body and a long
striped tail. They are reddish brown
with black bellies, white ears, white
stripes over their eyes and two more
alongside their white muzzles. I didn't
get as many drawings of them as I
would have wished because by the time
we got to their enclosure (at 9:30 am)
they were already flinging themselves
into the 'Y's of trees to sleep all day.
They were too high up and obscured
by leaves to get more than one drawing
of this peculiar sleeping habit...as floppy
as the cat that Linus's sister carries
around in Charlie Brown!

"Red Pandas" (right)

One red panda
was still snooping
around the fence,
close to where
there was some
bamboo destined
for a meal at some
point in the day.
This little girl, or
fella, clearly thought
that now would be a
good time....
why postpone joy
and all that?

No keeper was in
sight so Ivan, with
stealth and
nonchalance, broke
off a piece. Just as
he was about to
make the panda's
dream come true,
I saw a keeper
coming and whispered
urgently, "No! Don't do
it! You'll probably go to
jail if they see you!"
I must have been
having a premonition
of what was going to
happen the next day.
Well, you know by the
email that we arrived in
Taiwan safely...but, I'll
tell you, it was touch
and go there for awhile
as Ivan........

"Spiderweb and Red
Panda" (left)

.......called up a Chinese
colleague on his cell so
she could explain to the
guards at the school that
YES we are leaving legally
(meaning we signed
documents at the school.....

"Water Lilies" (right)

......and the school had informed  the police of our
departure). Somehow the guards had not been
informed of this or the one guard who knew had
fallen into a coma before sharing this important news
with his gateguarding comrades. One teacher had
recently left "illegally", screaming his head off at
the gate, "Let me out!". They eventually did release
him but, he can't leave China until he signs papers
with the police. God knows where he is now. Even
with all our papers signed Ivan still had to yell at
those poor guards (boys and girls who all looked to
be about 12 years old  and have far too much
responsibility). They didn't want to catch flack from
their superiors and we were desperate to catch our
flight that night. All this happened in a torrential
rainstorm. The van Ivan had carefully arranged to
pick us up did not show at all! Ivan called his
colleague, Uki, and she kindly called 2 friends who
had cars for hire and they came for us. Ivan's
euphonium box would not fit into either of these
very small cars. Ivan finally convinced one of the
drivers that it wouldn't hurt his car if we put it on the
roof rack. Luckily, we had brought from Canada a
roll of that superduper red Tuck Tape because we
certainly couldn't find rope so late at night. Ivan, the
drivers, Robbie (our neighbour) passed the roll of
tape back and forth, around and around, through the
open windows around the box until it was secure.
It wasn't hard for the drivers to sense that we
were nearly having a panic attack about getting
to the airport in time so they flew down the highway
like bats out of hell (and got lost!). However, we
arrived 15 minutes before our international
departure and, thanks to more kindness shown
to us this night by the airport staff, we were
on the plane in time!

I can't wait to call you, Kate.
Love,
Alanna"    (So, this ends my letter to Kate,
my dear friend and grandmother)

Taiwan Journal Page 4
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