We had such a nice treat at our bear sanctuary in Chengdu recently when Ed Young and his daughter Ananda stayed with us on site.

Ed is already famous for his incredible illustrations in the book "Moon Bear" written by Brenda Guiberson, and published by Henry Holt press, which shows how luckier bears go about their business in the wild and enjoy everything there is to enjoy about life that is truly free.

Ed is a remarkable man. His illustrations not only show the bears but, if you look closely at some of the crescent markings on their chests, you can make out the silhouettes of some members of his family.

In an example too strange to be coincidence, Ed has also had the bears close to his heart for his entire life. As a child, he was originally given a wooden moon bear by his mother when they lived in Shanghai, which he then took with him when he moved to New York. The bear is now over 100 years old, and when we first met there a couple of years ago as the book was being produced, he asked if I would take his moon bear "home" back to China, which of course I was thrilled to do.

Now safely in Chengdu and part of our ursine family, the bear called Yuan Yuan, was taken to the press conference where Ed charmed the media with how his story has come full circle.

The press conference was held at Sisyphe Books - established in 1993, and the most famous book store in Chengdu with branches across the country. The well known children's Reading Promoter, Mr Ajia attended the event and a kind translator who translated Ed's "Moon Bear" book into Chinese very generously gave the fee he was paid to Animals Asia.

Ed also attended a bear's health check where he saw and heard the reality of how much bear farming hurts the bears and, during the press conference, he spoke so movingly about the issue and why he believes that everyone should stand behind those in China in reaching out and freeing the bears from their torture.

Special thanks to our own Susan Zhang for working so hard to make the press conference such a success, and thank you again Ed, so lovely to see you and Ananda again, and please come back very soon.