Lianhua is smaller and more delicate than most giant pandas, with a face that seems perpetually gentle. She lives near a stream-fed meadow at the edge of a bamboo forest, spending her mornings eating and her afternoons wading through shallow water or rolling in wildflower patches. She is unusually social for a panda and approaches familiar visitors with soft chirping sounds. The local researchers adore her because she once fell asleep holding a researcher's boot.