Giant Panda Nanny

Name: Melody

Chinese name: Mei Luo梅洛

Age: 32 years old

Nationality: French

Occupation: Sales Director of a wine company

In China: 10 years

Bonjour! Hello everyone, my name is Melody and my Chinese name is Mei Luo（梅洛）.

I’m French and a Hunan daughter-in-law! I have been attracted to Chinese history, food, and calligraphy since I was a child ... but it was the wondrous pandas that first made me fall in love with China.

My nickname is Panda, the reason being that I have heavy dark circles under my eyes, just like my father. We both thought we looked like pandas, so I grew up calling my dad ‘Papa Panda’ and he called me ‘Baby Panda’. Now that I am older, he still calls me that to this day.

My parents made me aware of the topic of nature and animals at an early age and taught me that I must take care of our planet. So to this day, this topic is still very important to me and I wish more people would become involved.

I fell in love with pandas when my dad first showed me pictures of them as a child and wanted to learn more about them. Where do pandas call home?It’s China! At the age of seven, I started to take a special interest in China and made up my mind that I would go there when I grew up!

I found Chinese culture particularly fascinating, so I tried my best to learn Chinese, and the more I learned, the more I found Chinese characters amazing.My mother is an artist and she is talented at painting. I grew up drawing with her and was also interested in art, so when I first saw Chinese characters I felt like I was looking at an actual painting, as if each character contained a deeper meaning and actually wanted to tell a story of their own. At that time, they seemed to be telling me the story of what was about to happen to me, telling me to learn about them quickly and discover their secrets as soon as possible.From then on, I became even more curious about Chinese characters and investigated them almost obsessively.

At first, many of my friends did not understand my choice, thinking that Chinese was too difficult and it was an impossible language to learn. But instead of listening to them, I gained the courage to challenge myself. So I began to learn Chinese as if I were a great explorer, and my mother and father were always very supportive.

When I went to university, I majored in Chinese and got a master’s degree. The courses were all related to China: history, geography, translation,modern and ancient Chinese, and so on. I also studied Chinese archaeology because I was curious about the story of the first Chinese characters (like the oracle bones), and I studied calligraphy and Chinese painting in my spare time.Because of my love of painting plum blossoms, I named myself Mei Luo (梅means plum blossoms in Chinese). I was intrigued by all things Chinese, and at the same time I kept a close eye on my giant panda friends.

Now my dream has come true! I first went to China when I was 16 years old and it was organized by my school. I fell in love with China at first sight,and had a feeling as soon as I arrived that it would become my second home. I swore to myself: I would return!

When I got back to France, I started to learn Chinese every day,desperately. Finally, at the age of 18, I came back to China and worked as a foreign teacher at Nanjing Foreign Language School for two years. Then I returned to France to study for my master’s degree, receiving both a French and Chinese scholarship, and spent another year studying on exchange at Soochow University. In each case, it seemed to be fate that brought me back to China.

After my first trip to China, when I returned to France I decided to work part-time. Every Wednesday and weekend I would work as a saleswoman in a supermarket. Every summer, I used the money from my part-time job to buy a return ticket to China. When I told my parents that I was going to be in China for the whole summer (two months), they were shocked and asked me,‘Do you have the money?’ I smiled and replied to them, ‘I’ve been prepared for this moment for a long time. Don’t worry about it.’ I am really grateful to my parents for trusting me and allowing me to realize my ‘China dream’.

I have now lived in China for a cumulative total of 10 years! It feels like time has gone by so quickly and I truly love my life in China. I have made many Chinese friends who are both kind and welcoming. I learn Taijiquan(a traditional Chinese sport) and Chinese kung fu from them ... and I have climbed mountains with them, also doing Taijiquan together on the mountains whilst having tea and a chat together.

Many Chinese people say that I am a ‘fake foreigner’ and think that my habits and personality are more like of Chinese people. Honestly, whenever I leave China for a while, I miss Chinese life and Chinese food like crazy! It seems that at least my ‘Chinese stomach’ will have to keep me in China too.

Of course, I still miss my family. Every time I go back to France (which is only once or twice a year), I give my dad a different giant panda toy. Every time I see something about pandas I reminisce and think of my dad, and I do miss him a lot.

They have also come to China for a few times to see me and it seems that our family has fallen in love with Chinese culture due to my overall influence.Our home is basically furnished in a Chinese style, with a lot of Chinese furniture, household items, etc. My brother’s wife is also Chinese and my dad is a big fan of Bruce Lee and collects all of his classic films.

When I had my wedding, my family — my father, mother, sister, brother-in-law and brother — all came to Hunan from France and I was very touched.Later my French mum and my Chinese mum got on like sisters. Both mums love to dance — the French mum is a Latin dance teacher and the Chinese mum is a participant in a Chinese dance competition! They danced with each other in Hunan, and my husband and I danced along with them. That moment was warm and extremely important to me. I still remember the two mothers laughing, and although they didn’t speak the same language, they didn’t need an interpreter.

I am very happy in China because I met my husband. My husband also calls me ‘giant panda’, maybe because he thinks I look like a giant panda too. I am now a very happy Chinese daughter-in-law, and happiness is sometimes so simple and pure!

My husband is a pastry chef and he made our wedding cake himself when we got married. The wedding was so busy and he made a cake that looked like a giant panda himself, which was a very thoughtful gesture that touched me.

My husband and I both appreciate the culture of each other’s countries.Although there are different nationalities, languages, customs and traditions,we don’t care about them. The happiness of two people is the most important thing, and I love his beautiful smile. We are both very mischievous and we both love nature, animals and especially pandas. However, my hubby gets a little jealous of the pandas because I love them so much!

My special bond with China started because of the pandas. Every chance I get I go to Chengdu, Sichuan to see my giant panda friends.

As I have travelled around China, I have found that there are so many beautiful and interesting cities. I enjoy getting to see the local character and folklore. Chengdu is my favourite city in China, free and relaxing and indescribably comforting. Every time I am in Chengdu, I have a great time.

I love China’s old cities and old streets, and Chengdu has beautiful old streets. Going to a teahouse and sitting with friends and seeing lots of people drinking tea and talking together is so much fun and such a lively social gathering! Even if you sit there all day you never get bored.

The first time I went to a teahouse in Chengdu, I was sitting alone drinking tea when suddenly some Chengdu people at the table next to me asked me to come and sit with them. At that time, I was not good at Chinese and they were speaking Sichuanese, which was hard for me to understand.But I could feel their enthusiasm. They took the initiative to introduce me to Chengdu’s specialties and bought me sunflower seeds to show me how to eat them in the proper manner. I knew nothing about eating sunflower seeds before, as no one eats them in France, so I was curious too. I chewed the sunflower seeds with the shell and the flesh, because that’s how I saw them put them directly in their mouths. They stared at me for a while and suddenly burst out laughing and saying ‘no, no, no’, so I realized ... that this was the case! You can’t eat the shells, you have to put them in your mouth and then spit them out. I managed to eat one and they had finished ten ... Looks like I need more practice. Too much work for a foreigner to eat sunflower seeds, but it sure was fun! Then I brought a packet for my parents and French friends to try, and they couldn’t do it! Every time I brought them sunflower seeds, it turned into a hilarious, joke filled moment! I still keep in touch with these Chengdu friends to this day.

Every time I go to Chengdu, my Chengdu friends will take me to try many delicious dishes. Sichuan cuisine is one of the eight major cuisines in China and more and more foreigners are learning about it. I have been in China for 10 years now, but I still keep tasting cuisines that I have never experienced before. Chinese food is so rich! Being able to smell new aromas,eat new dishes and get a feel for Chinese food is also one of the great ways to learn about Chinese culture in general. To be honest, seeing dishes with lots of hot peppers scares me a bit! As a Hunan daughter-in-law, I’m not too afraid of spice now, but I am afraid of numb taste, and every time I feel my lips getting thicker and my tongue going numb.

Sichuan is the home of giant pandas. Here, elements of pandas can be seen everywhere, giving a good sense of the Chinese people’s love for their national treasure. Seeing them at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding gave me an indescribable joy and I always felt that I was destined to meet them.

The word ‘fate’ is very important to me. I believe in fate. I think it was because of the pandas that I came to China and met my husband.

Because of my relationship with pandas, I had the most unforgettable experience in 2019, bringing me closer to my giant panda friends and making my giant panda dream eventually come true!

The giant panda is a creature with a long history of about 8 million years.2019 marks the 150th anniversary of China’s giant pandas going global. Thefirst foreigner to discover pandas was a Frenchman — Father Armand David,who found a ‘black and white bear’ in Baoxing County, Sichuan in 1869, and from then on pandas began to enter modern human civilization.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Chinese giant panda’s arrival in the world, a ‘Sino-French Panda Cultural Week’ was organized in France in November 2019, which I followed in particular. As I was in China at the time,it was a bit of a shame that I was not able to go to this important event. But soon after, I was lucky enough to be selected to go to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding to take part in the 2nd Worldwide Giant Panda Keeper Volunteer Program. The program was organized by CCTV Panda Channel and Chengdu Panda Base, and co-organized by Pandapia — a global giant panda cultural communication brand.

I applied for the program with the intention of giving it a try, but I never thought I would be selected and felt lucky. It was the best Christmas present I’ve ever had!

The organizers chose 12 participants from different countries, including China, Canada, USA, Panama, Japan, UK and so on. All of us from all over the world had one thing in common — a love of pandas and each of us had our own unique interesting story to tell about them. Our love for pandas brought us together to form the ‘Giant Panda Family’, what a great bond!

In December that year, we spent more than two weeks learning about professional husbandry and taking on various challenges. I thought I was dreaming, because I was going to be a giant panda’s nanny! I struggled to contain my excitement before embarking on this once in a lifetime experience.

Looking back now, the most memorable part of the experience was thefirst day working with the keeper, Mr. Duan.

We first went to the panda park ‘Adult Giant Panda No. 3’, which was home to three adorable pandas: Diandian and his twin brother Qiqi, as well as their ever-loving and protective Xiaoya.

We first called them back into their cages so that we could clean their area.I was only a little distance away from the cage and felt all three of them staring at me. I was stunned by their sturdy and imposing physiques, but suddenly they let out a ‘goat cry’. The keeper said that pandas have 13 different kinds of calls, and the goat cry means they are happy. I couldn’t help but shed a tear.The moment was so perfect and so moving. I thought, ‘You’re happy because you know I’m going to help you clean up, aren’t you?’

We got into them when we were ready and my heart was beating faster and I became more nervous! Duan taught us how to divide the work and to clean up the leftover bamboo they had previously eaten beforehand, adding fresh food all at once. This action required a lot of strength and had to be done as quickly as possible. It was cold outside, but I started to sweat after a few minutes of work.

Mr. Duan taught me to clean up the area where the pandas drank and then to start cleaning up the droppings. This is a very important task, as the droppings are weighed after collection to check that everything is okay with their dietary function, that they have eaten enough, and so forth. Each day a giant panda eats between 20 and 40 kilograms of bamboo and excretes between 10 and 20 kilograms of droppings, so you can imagine how many droppings need to be cleaned up each day. These operations need to be completed within 30 minutes, so it is important not to let the pandas go hungry, but also to clean up after them and not to leave anything behind.

My first day as a keeper was a sweaty one and I really admired the strength of the keepers who could transport so many bamboos at once and work so efficiently.

I was a bit worried at first that the smell would be too much for me to handle, but I soon realized that there was no problem at all, as pandas don’t eat meat and are herbivores, so their droppings don’t smell bad. Because they eat bamboo, the droppings actually smells good! The teacher said, ‘During the Ice Age there was no meat to eat and many animals slowly became extinct. The pandas started eating bamboo to survive and have been eating it ever since.’ My giant panda friend is so smart! Little did I know that one day I would say, ‘The thing that makes me happiest is cleaning up the pandas’ droppings.’ When I told my family and friends about it, they didn’t believe me, but it’s true.

After cleaning up, we let Diandian, Qiqi and Xiaoya back into the activity area. Seeing them eating the fresh bamboo we had just put out made my heart grow warm, and I felt satisfied that I had helped and was able to make them happy. The other two in the small group, all with big smiles on their faces, held each other’s hands. This moment belonged to us and we could understand how we were feeling without having to communicate.

We have been working in the panda park for over two weeks and have developed a deep friendship with the three pandas, which is very precious.

Every evening we say hello to them before heading back to the hotel. We can already tell who they are by looking at their black eyes or shoulder straps,each one is different. The easiest to recognize is Diandian: he has a V-shaped nose and narrower straps. Diandian looks rounder and has a black heart-shaped dot on its chest. Because I have spent so much time with him, I can recognize not only his looks but also his distinct personality. Diandian is more active,very mobile and very greedy. His twin brother and Xiaoya are both less active and more sleepy.

Being a panda keeper is not only about knowing how to clean the activity area and identifying pandas, but also about observing the various behaviour of pandas, so our teacher taught us how to study animal behaviour. I was very interested in this and listened very carefully each and every time, as I knew so little before that I was now so eager to learn more. What should I do if I think a giant panda is not behaving normally? If it seems lethargic, for example, it could be that the environmental enrichment (increasing the range and manner of movement of captive animals, which can better help them to show their own behaviour) given to it is not good enough, or not enough, or it may just not suit it, but it may suit another giant panda. Each panda has its own personality.

Once the keepers asked us to design a toy of environmental enrichment for the giant pandas. Our team used materials such as bamboo and rope, it was better to use these natural tools. We drilled some holes in the bamboo and hid a few pieces of apple inside. We hung this toy from a tree and if the pandas wanted to eat the apples, they needed to stand up and get them so that they could get training. The teachers said they were happy with it, which made us especially happy! It felt like the right thing to have done, in helping the pandas.

Our main aim is to make the pandas feel comfortable and be able to live naturally, so that they can eventually return to nature and their original natural habitat, and to expand the wild giant panda population, so the role of panda keeper is seen as particularly sacred. I am grateful to the staff at the base for being so professional and dedicated to providing a wonderful living environment for the pandas. Animals and environmental protection have a very important place in my heart and I hope more people will pay attention to these important topics.

I am grateful to the kind and patient keepers who have taught us so much.They truly love the pandas and do everything they can to protect them. I had never thought of the hard work of the keepers before and I admire them from the bottom of my heart. Working alongside the keepers over the past two weeks has been an eye-opener for me. And I will never forget my teachers, my team and the whole giant panda family! I am so lucky and feel very grateful, there are no words to express my gratitude. We went home with our ‘Outstanding Volunteer’ certificates and I couldn’t be happier!

I am also very grateful to my giant panda friends, who have brought me to such a lovely country. I hope they will not forget me as their ‘nanny’!

Finally, I would like to emphasize the word ‘fate’ again. It was fate that brought me to China, that brought me so close to so many wonderful and kind people, and that also brought me the other half of my life, that fulfilled my dreams! China is my second home, a warm home, always in my heart.