We flew into Chengdu, a city of over 10 million people. Two things struck me there: the air pollution and the massive rate of construction (there were countless numbers of cranes and skyscrapers being built). The highlight of this stop was the giant panda research center. This is the largest panda population in captivity anywhere in the world. We were able to get very close to the eight baby pandas that had been born just six months ago. They’re incredibly cute (but clumsy) animals.