Pandas My Story

This story belongs to Yvonne and her Mummy Nancy.

It's a tiny tale about Nancy and the things she used to do.

Now it's time for her to share her memories

and take Yvonne on a journey of discovery.

Yvonne's grandma lives very far away in China.

Yvonne is writing her a letter to say she's coming to visit soon.

-Yvonne, what are you doing?

-I am writing a letter to my grandma.

Oh, you are so good.

Your grandma, she will be very happy when she receives your letter.

Yvonne, I will show you something.

-Do you know what this is?

-Is it a passport?

-Yes, it's passport.

Passport is very important. When you visit different country.

So, this is my passport. Yeah.

To travel to a different country, everybody needs a passport,

just like this old passport of Yvonne's mummy.

-Do I have a passport?

-Yes, you have.

-Yeah, it's quite...

-Wow! Look.

There's Yvonne's old passport when she was a little baby.

-Have I been to China?

-Yeah! You've been to China two times.

How old was I when I went to China?

Oh, I remember last time is when you were four years old.

Have you been to other places except for China?

Yes. I visit Belgium...

And they chat about all the countries that Nancy has been to.

Mummy Nancy tells Yvonne all about growing up in Beijing,

a city in faraway China.

'I was born in Beijing. Beijing is in China.

'Beijing is a very big city...

'with a lot of people.

'There are lot of traffic.'

When Nancy was a little girl, she didn't live in the city,

she lived in the countryside in China.

'The countryside is very different with the big city.

'There are less people, less traffic there.

Before, everyone lived in the countryside.

Now, many more people live in the city.

Cities are huge!

Did you know pandas are from China?

Yvonne and Mummy Nancy have come to the zoo in Edinburgh

to visit its pandas.

Because the panda was born in China, it has a Chinese name - Tian Tian.

Does Yvonne know what this means in English?

-Sweetie?

-Yeah. It's very good.

She was born in China in Beijing Zoo.

Just like me, I was born in China.

Do you know, in China, the panda lives in the mountain.

# Let the sunshine in

# Let the sunshine in

# Let the sunshine in Let the sunshine in... #

But most of the people can only see panda in the zoo.

They're cute and cuddly, like teddy bears.

-Of course.

-What do they eat?

-We call it bamboo.

Bamboo is a type of long grass,

and it's the panda's favourite food.

Look - Yvonne's found some bamboo.

Oh, see, Yvonne? This is a bamboo plant.

It's just like the bamboo the panda was eating.

-Ooh! Can we eat bamboo?

-Not this kind. It's a special bamboo.

What did you eat when you were my age?

We normally eat Chinese dumpling, Chinese rice, Chinese steam bread.

Food in China is so colourful.

What a variety of fish, meat and vegetables!

Yvonne's in for a real treat when she visits her grandma in China.

Ooh!

Yvonne can't wait to taste the food in China.

In China, meal times are very important.

Just like in this country the family sit around the table

to eat and share their stories.

In China, they use chopsticks,

which is a lot more fun than using a fork.

Yvonne wants to know how Mummy Nancy had fun when she was young.

Now, Yvonne, I will show you a game I used to play in China

when I was little girl.

It's called... SPEAKS CHINESE

Here we call it Chinese jump rope.

The first thing we need to put all of the rubber bands together

to make a giant long rope.

Ooh, they're making a long rope.

That's going to take a long, long time.

Ah! I see what it's for.

That looks like so much fun.

Now the rope is finished, it's time for Nancy

to show Yvonne how to play Chinese ropes.

Now I will show you how to play.

It looks fun, but there are a lot of steps to remember.

Good luck, Yvonne.

SHE SPEAKS CHINESE

Very good. Well done.

Very good! Well done!

Another hobby that's very popular in China is origami,

where you fold bits of paper to make fun shapes.

Yvonne, you are very good.

Where did you learn origami?

Oh, I learned origami in China when I was a little girl.

My teacher taught me.

What's your favourite origami item?

Oh. The peacock is my favourite.

-My favourite is the dragon boat.

-Oh, dragon boat.

Now if one is going to help her mummy finish the dragon boat.

The dragon boat is so wonderfully colourful.

It's the last shape, Yvonne.

Yeah. Well done. Very good!

Yes! Well done!

Yvonne and her mummy Nancy are about to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

This year, it's the Year of the Dragon.

But this isn't a scary dragon.

It's a fun dragon and it's made out of colourful material.

CHINESE MUSIC PLAYS

Everyone is having a great time.

Yvonne loves the music, loves the dancing

and loves performing, too.

CHINESE SONG PLAYS

Yvonne has been learning this dance at weekends

at a special Chinese school and she is very good.

Yvonne practises very hard to remember all the dances.

And she really loves performing with her classmates.

Now Yvonne has found out about mummy Nancy's life in China,

it's time to finish packing and go and visit Grandma.

Ooh, thank you. You are helping me packing.

Thank you.

What are things you like to take with you to China?

-I would like to take my trophies.

-Ooh, your trophy.

-And?

-Drawings.

-Ooh, beautiful drawings.

-My toy rabbit.

-Oh, lovely rabbit.

-And my new panda.

-Oh!

I would also like to take...

these gifts for my grandma and grandpa.

Lovely.

Oh, don't forget passport.

Yes!

-So, do we have fun today?

-I had lots of fun today.

Yvonne learnt to play Chinese ropes...

she made an origami dragon...

she celebrated Chinese New Year with a big dragon...

What is the best thing about today?

The best thing about today was seeing the pandas.

Ooh, yes. I like panda, too.

..and she watched the pandas in the zoo.

Ooh!

What a fabulous heap of fun!

That was Yvonne and mummy Nancy's tiny tale

about the things Nancy used to do and the fun she had,

and why Nancy has a Chinese passport.

Mummy Nancy has shared her story with Yvonne,

and now Yvonne is starting her own story.

Do you know someone with a story to share?

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd