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I traveled to Chengdu in the fall of 2003 with my friends. At that time, Chengdu was not the best tourist destination in China. A friend wrote an article about a large bamboo reserve area in Sichuan and I thought perhaps the bamboo forest is the best place to see pandas and that’s why I decided to go there. The memory of a popular song about pandas in the 1980s suddenly came to me.

After our arrival, we were told that there were no pandas in Yibin, the bamboo reserve area which is quite a long trip from Chengdu. Our local friends suggested that we visit Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan irrigation system instead. Indulging in the local cuisine, the sceneries of Mount Emei, the Giant Stone Buddha at Leshan Mountain, the Temple of Marquis and Du Fu Thatched Cottage, we had forgotten the reason why we had decided to go to Chengdu in the first place.

Later, I found out on the internet that the conservation base for pandas is in Wolong, which is located to the northwest of Chengdu. It is not far from Dujiangyan. Because I had missed the pandas during the last trip, I really wanted to see the pandas in Wolong.

In 2007, I heard that DreamWorks Animation of the United States was about to make the film "Kung Fu Panda" about Kung Fu and Chinese cultures. This brought back my desire to go to Sichuan to see pandas. "Kung Fu Panda" was to be shown in 2008 and also the Beijing Olympics would be taking place. My friends in the US and I decided to go to the Beijing Olympic Games first and then choose a good time to travel to Chengdu to see real pandas, rather than cartoon ones.

Unfortunately, there was a severe earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008. The Wolong Panda Conservation Center was damaged by it. From seeing the TV broadcasts, I was touched by the staff of the panda base as they tried to protect the animals while putting their own lives at risk. In 2008, "Kung Fu Panda" was released and the Beijing Olympic Games proved to be a great success. But my friends and I didn’t go to Chengdu to see the pandas because of the earthquake.

Three years after the earthquake, I led a tour group of 20 people to Wenchuan. Everyone was shocked by the damage caused by the earthquake. At the same time, they were impressed by the achievements of the disaster relief operation. Because some people in the tour group did not want to see the giant pandas, we took the bus to Aba and Jiuzhaigou National Park. I missed the pandas again.

The writing contest hosted by China Daily reminds me of how I have missed the opportunities of seeing pandas in the past 13 years. I should have a memory of pandas but I simply didn't. However, my memories of the Wenchuan earthquake, the release of "Kung Fu Panda" and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are all interwoven with lovely pandas.

It is pity that I haven’t got the chance to see pandas in Chengdu. But as long as I love pandas, it does not matter whether I have seen them with my naked eyes. They are always in my heart.

The opinions expressed do not represent the views of the China Daily website.

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