Giant pandas are also fond of this kind of environment.They live on gentle slopes and mountain ridges where they not only have abundant bamboo to eat, but also clean springs to drink from. Now, with some reluctance, we had to climb down. The mountain path rose and fell, sometimes gently, sometimes steeply. Our body heat dried our trousers, socks and shoes. At 5 o'clock p. m, we finally arrived at the Caopo Township.

In the evening, after a brief introduction from the township leaders, we wanted to wash our feet and go to sleep. When we took off our shoes we found our feet were quite clean and our skin had became white. Inside our socks, we saw some white skin fragments. After long hours of soaking in water and walking, our feet had peeled. We were exhausted from our hike and drifted into sleep as soon as we lied down. When we woke up, the sky was turning bright in the east.

On the following day, we visited some old, local hunters to get information about the capture of giant pandas by foreigners in the 1930s. Then we walked about two hours along the valley of Caopo River until we got to a bridge. After crossing a chain bridge, which used to be a bamboo rope bridge in the 30s, we were quite close to the old county town of Wenchuan County. (Now Miansi Township). That explained why American and British zoologists and hunters went to Caopo Township 60 years ago to hunt for pandas instead of the present Wolong Nature Reserve. Camping In iutoushan Mountain After some training and on-site study, our research team began formal research in May of 1974. Our 20-person team consisted of not only well-educated and strong youngmen from forestry departments but also specialists from Sichuan University, Sichuan Agricultural University,Chongqing Normal College and the Chongqing Museum.
18Because our research was to be conducted in Wenchuan County, the director of forestry department of Wenchuan County also joined us. At the age of 40 he was a little bit younger than me, (I was 45). He suffered from asthma, but was open-minded.

Our first stop was in Niutou Mountain, which was under the administration of the Third Village in Wolong Township. We were going to camp in Huachaodi, where the terrain was relatively gentle. It was located at the end of a valley with an elevation of 3000 meters. Every team member was required to carry his or her own clothes and the tools they used in field research, while hired laborers carried our tents, rice, vegetables and cooking facilities.Taking them all into account, the whole team had over forty people. Due to the high mountains, dangerous roads,and their heavy loads, the team members were soon out of breath.

Among the local laborers, there was a young lady about 18 or 19 years old. With incredible strength, she carried a heavy iron caldron and some other cooking utensils. To make matters worse the caldron was often caught on twigs and shrubs, but it seemed to be a piece of cake to her. After some steep cliff roads, we took a rest. We saw that she picked stalks of Miliusa chunii to eat, so we followed suit.It tasted like celery with a slight flavor of medicine and lots of thirst-quenching juice. The energetic, young lady made the men blush with shame.

In the afternoon, rolls of black clouds appeared in the sky. We estimated that a storm was on the way. Most of our team members and I quickened our pace. We arrived at our destination before the rainstorm. We pitched our tents as quickly as possible so we would be sheltered from the rain. We had hardly set up our tents when the black clouds rolled over. With muffled thunder, the rain poured down. Those who lagged behind were drenched. Due to the heavy rain and thick fog some people walked right past the camp. A few people called loudly, while others took the opportunity to play a trick on some of the stragglers, including the director of Wenchuan County, by telling them to stop only after they had passed the last tent.

In the afternoon, rolls of black clouds appeared in the sky. We estimated that a storm was on the way. Most of our team members and I quickened our pace. We arrived at our destination before the rainstorm. We pitched our tents as quickly as possible so we would be sheltered from the rain. We had hardly set up our tents when the black clouds rolled over. With muffled thunder, the rain poured down. Those who lagged behind were drenched. Due to the heavy rain and thick fog some people walked right past the camp. A few people called loudly, while others took the opportunity to play a trick on some of the stragglers, including the director of Wenchuan County, by telling them to stop only after they had passed the last tent.