Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Kai-Lan's Trip to China (alternately known as Kai-Lan's Great Trip to China!) is the final episode of Season 1, and the first double-length episode of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. In this episode, Kai-Lan and everyone else go to China to visit their great aunt while being invited to meet a baby panda.
Plot[]
Kai-Lan and her friends get a video call from her great aunt, Gu Nai Nai, where she tells her that she wants them to come over to China and meet a new baby panda. Ye-Ye states that they're going to take an airplane to get to China, from the United States to China. Arriving at the airport, everyone then boards the plane for China. When they meet Gu Nai Nai at the airport, introductions from the viewer, Rintoo, Tolee & Hoho are done.
Everyone then boards a bus, where they stop to eat noodles, Kai-Lan encourages them to try new things; "when you're scared of something new, here's what you can do; just try it, try it, try it." Rintoo and Hoho try the noodles, and then they continue onward, where nextup Gu Nai Nai shows her home, where they wear new slippers in their home, although Tolee isn't comfortable of wearing different slippers than his panda slippers which prompts Kai-Lan encourages him to try new things. Kai-Lan shows Gu Nai Nai her heartbox, where she brings a dandelion from home. Gu Nai Nai then says that the necklace she was wearing, was given to her when she was little. Everyone then goes through a bamboo forest to search for the pandas, where they then appear out of the bamboos, Gu Nai Nai tells everyone to climb, where they find a village of pandas. The baby panda then appears towards Kai-Lan, who then runs towards the treehouse toward her.
Inside the treehouse, where they see the baby panda's mother. The mother states that he doesn't have a name yet, where they plan to have a naming party for him. For the party, the group aims to find presents for the baby panda, where they start via heading to the city. Kai-Lan and her animal friends visit a blanket ship, where the baby panda eats watermelon, so they then get a watermelon blanket for him. The next thing that they need to get are some baby tiger shoes, where they must board a boat to get to a shoe shop and back. However, the baby panda suddenly becomes scared of the boat. Kai-Lan says that the panda is afraid to get on the boat because he's never been on a boat before.
Rintoo, Hoho, and Tolee state that they were scared about trying new things before, where they all sing to the baby panda to try it, because you might like it. The baby panda then talks, stating he wants to try it. Everyone then boards the ship, and then they go to the island where they go to the shoe shop to get some tiger shoes for the baby panda. They watch a Chinese opera perform with fans and a mask that changes faces, and come up with getting a happy face mask for the baby panda. Kai-Lan then comes up with the final gift for the baby panda; her heart box, where she had been putting the presents inside the whole time.
Returning to mainland China, they return to the panda village just in time for the name party, Kai-Lan then gives the mother panda her heart box, where they give the baby panda the presents; blanket, tiger shoes, the happy mask, and Kai-Lan's heart box. The mother panda comes up with Xīao Xī Guā, which means little watermelon in Chinese. The episode ends with drums, fireworks, and singing.
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode for the following;
- This is the first Ni Hao Kai-Lan double-length episode.
- This is the first and only episode where a human character other than Kai-Lan or Ye-Ye appear in this episode, and the only appearance of Gu Nai Nai. Not counting the unnamed incidental characters when they arrive in China, there are a total of three human characters in the series so far.
- The first and only episode where Hoho's home is seen, but only from the inside. It is unknown where it is located.
- The first episode to make use of 3D models. In this case, the airplane was in 3D.
- The first and only episode where the "We Got It" song occurs before "We Gotta Gotta Try to Find the Reason Why", and the first time a solution was sung without starting with "We Got It". Plus, this is the first episode where "We Gotta Gotta Try to Find the Reason Why" does not have a flashback, and "We Got It" being sung by everyone, not just Kai-Lan for the first time.
- The first and only episode where Kai-Lan's past is referenced.
- Despite being part of Season 1, this episode was produced during Season 2, as the production number was 207a-b, putting in between Kai-Lan's Big Surprise and Rintoo Makes a Splash in terms of production order, though the former aired back in May 15, 2009, and the last new episode to air before Kai-Lan's Trip to China was The Hula Duck Dance Party, which aired on May 28, 2009.
- The device that Kai-Lan talks to Gu Nai Nai through is a reference to video calls, such as FaceTime for example.
- This episode revealed that the series takes place in California, if taking in mind where the plane starts on the map.
- The part where they wear orange slippers in Gu Nai Nai's home is a reference to the tradition where most Asian homes would have people wearing different footwear inside.
- Bian lian is a Chinese performance revolving around masks that change faces.
External Links[]
- Nickipedia
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan wiki
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ni_Hao,_Kai-Lan_episodes
