First of all I would like to thank everyone who have devoted
so much effort for this Project, and to all the people in Chengdu
who have given us such a warm welcome.
It is a great honor to be selected as one of the top 12 PAMBASSADORS
and to be here in Chengdu, and I hope this will be an experience that
I will never forget for the rest of my life.
Today was our first day being involved with the “Project Panda”.
We all gathered in Chengdu at 4 o’clock,
and had a brief meeting at the restaurant in our hotel.
We had dinner at “Old House” (老房子） and had lovely spicy Sichuan cuisine.
Picture of the Top 12 Pambassadors! (One missing!!)
It’s so amazing that about a month ago we didn’t even know about this Project,
but then after the video interview, voting and everything, we’re finally in Chengdu,
having Chinese dinner together! We’ve seen the video interview so many times;
it was like we’ve already known each other well!!
Sichuan Cuisine
After dinner, there was a welcome ceremony,
with many entertainments by the local people.
“Changing faces” is one of the popular entertainments in this region,
and was awesome; they did the face of a DORAEMON,
the Japanese popular cartoon character!
"Changing face" of DORAEMON!!
We made a short speech for the local media on stage.
I did mine in Chinese, I hope everyone understood what I was saying!
Each participant has local host families that will
take care of us during our stay in Chengdu.
Mine is wonderful.
A German father, Chinese grandma, a mother and
two beautiful children the age of 10 and 6.
They will give us the support in order to know better
about China, Chengdu and about Pandas.
My wonderful host family on stage singing a famous poem by 李白
The hotel area is full of posters and panels for the “Project Panda”
and shows how important this project is to the people in China
and to the people around the world.
Posters of Project Panda
I have been told from a Chinese friend of mine that
the Project is already big news among the Chinese people.
I hope this project will succeed with all the support
from local people and participants.
Tomorrow we are going to the Chengdu Panda Base,
and hopefully we will meet the Pandas!!
I will keep you updated on our activities.
The "Project Panda" to save the endangered Pandas starts from
tomorrow, so stay tuned!
Pambassador Yumiko Kajiwara
