(CN) The National Treasure

[Guest guest]

China Daily 25th October 2001

 

http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2001-10-25/40389.html

 

Juggling, cycling on stage

(Yu Nan)

 

Yingying, the first panda acrobat in the world, is charming Beijing

audiences at the ongoing First Chinese Acrobatics Festival.

 

He can play basketball, walk on a big ball, weight lift, drive a vehicle,

and can even use a fork and a spoon to eat Western food.

 

Yingying's arrival has brought another wave of " panda-monium, " with

Beijingers eager to learn more about the special panda.

 

VIP treatment

 

Yingying is enjoying his VIP ( " very important panda " ) life in Chaoyang

Gymnasium, his temporary home in Beijing.

 

The gymnasium was emptied so that the 40-square-metre room could be used for

the panda.

 

As always, Bai Yunling, Yingying's 'mother' who has cared for him for 15

years, accompanies him.

 

Bai and her husband share the panda's room, along with three assistants.

 

" The whole room is neat and has no smell at all, " said Bai. " You cannot tell

that this room is for an animal unless you see the large cage in it. "

 

Every morning, Bai uses a wet towel to clean Yingying's face. She regularly

washes Yingying's body with special towels to keep his fur clean and tidy.

 

" I have been living in the same room with Yingying for 15 years. I believe

he is the cleanest panda in the world, " Bai said with pride.

 

Yingying is even toilet trained. When he was young, he was trained to use a

basin by himself.

 

Yingying came to the Wuhan Acrobatics Troupe in 1986 when he was only 2.

 

To welcome the " national treasure, " the troupe spent 100,000 yuan

(US$12,000), a large amount for a troupe at that time, to rebuild their

140-square metre dining hall into Yingying's training room. They also

equipped the room with four air conditioners to maintain a pleasant

temperature for the panda.

 

Yingying eats three meals a day. Two of his meals are nutritious conjee,

Yingying's favourite, which is made with rice, millet, milk, sugar and salt.

He also enjoys fresh bamboo, each twig of which is selected and fed to him

by Bai herself.

 

Bai also feeds Yingying some tonics, such as calcium tablets, Golden

Theragran (multi-vitamin pills) and fish oil, to maintain his health.

 

To prepare for performances, Yingying exercises regularly. Bai gets up with

Yingying at 6 am every day for morning exercises. Afternoon or evening

exercises are sometimes conducted depending on Yingying's condition.

 

Although Yingying is already 17 (60 human years), his body is still strong

and his fur is still shiny.

 

Panda's 'mama'

 

Bai entered the acrobatics troupe when she was 9 and was an excellent rope

dancer before Yingying joined the troupe in 1986.

 

Bai still remembers her first meeting with Yingying. " Many of my colleagues

went to see him on the first day, but he only walked slowly to me, " she

recalled. " That was my first time seeing a panda so close and I began to

love him immediately. And I could feel he liked me, too. "

 

Bai was eventually chosen to train the panda.

 

" We were very serious in choosing Yingying's trainer because he is so

precious, " recalled Xia Juhua, then director of the Culture Bureau of Wuhan.

" Bai is a virtuous and responsible person. We all believed that she would

treat Yingying very nicely. "

 

However, Bai soon discovered that the job was no easy task.

 

Since she had never worked with pandas before, Bai first went to the

library. She then asked an experienced feeder to teach her how to raise

pandas. The most important step for her was getting familiar with Yingying

as quickly as possible.

 

" When I first fed Yingying bamboo, he used his tongue to lick my hand, and

my hand shook holding the bamboo, " Bai recalled. " But after a few weeks, I

even dared to hug him. I had conquered myself! "

 

Bai tries to spend as much time as she can with Yingying to promote the

affection and trust between them. She fed, washed, played and even slept in

the same room with him - explaining her nickname, " panda's mum. "

 

" I know how precious pandas are, so I treat him as best as I can, like my

own son. "

 

Training became easier after Bai won the trust of Yingying.

 

" But Yingying is still a naughty panda, " Bai said. " He is reluctant to

follow orders sometimes during training. "

 

Bai never beats Yingying or forces him to take her orders during training.

" If he doesn't want to do what I have ordered, I will choose some other

activity that he likes and let him do it first, " Bai said. " When I find that

he has cheered up, I will repeat my order. Then he will do it without any

problem. "

 

Under Bai's training, Yingying soon excelled in acrobatics. In 1987 and

1988, Yingying was invited to perform in Thailand and Canada, where he was

highly welcomed.