I’m so excited to finally see Xiao Qi Ji 小奇迹! He is a young 4 year old male who was born at Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington DC, USA back in 2020 and in 2023 moved to China with his parents as their loan period was up. He is the 4th and final cub of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian from their time in the US – and the last one of the family that I hadn’t seen! I saw oldest brother Tai Shan in 2016 and 2017 (and here in Wolong on this trip too!), sister Bao Bao in 2017, then I saw parents Mei Xiang and Tian Tian and brother Bei Bei in 2018 in Washington DC, and already saw Bei Bei on this trip in Ya’an Bifengxia. So of course it’s easy to track his growing up by many photos and videos posted online, and he remains to be a popular panda in China – his was one of the busiest yards when I was there. Luckily he was very active when I was at his yard – first he was sitting at the back near the house having some bamboo, then he made his way down near the front and lounged on one of his climbing platforms. After spending some time there posing for the people (he knew what he was doing!), he then headed towards a rock structure and eventually settled there for a nap. Honestly, he’s such a cutie =) I thought his yard was definitely one of the more interesting ones with plenty of climbing options and a good range of elevations. So happy to see him and finally get all of the ‘original’ DC family ticked off^
Continue Reading “Xiao Qi Ji (Outer Ring House 2) @ Wolong Shenshuping Giant Panda Base, May 2024”Xiao Qi Ji (Outer Ring House 2) @ Wolong Shenshuping Giant Panda Base, May 2024
Introduction to Wolong Shenshuping Giant Panda Base and Outer Ring House 1
I can’t believe I finally made it to the Wolong Shenshuping Giant Panda Base! Honestly, this felt like somewhere unachievable to get to, I never thought it would happen. I don’t love a long car ride, so I had been apprehensive about going here as it was made out to be a really long drive out, but actually it was only just over an hour from Dujiangyan city centre and the time passed pretty quickly (for me, an hour is my typical bus journey to work so that length is pretty normal) with pretty mountain views and chatting with my friend. Definitely start the trip from Dujiangyan if a long car ride is something you’d rather avoid. We left around 8AM on a weekday and the roads were surprisingly very quiet, there was almost no traffic stopping us at any part of the journey.
China Diaries: May 2024 #5 ~ Dujiangyan City Strolls
With a lot of time in the Dujiangyan area, and the panda bases of course only open until the early evening, I had plenty of afternoon/evening time to explore Dujiangyan City properly for the first time. I loved doing this and really got my bearings and the geography of the city – my visits in 2016 and 2017 were very brief and with groups/being taken around to places so it was hard to get a feel for it then. Overall, it felt like a lovely laid back city, and not super large – easy to walk around the main tourist sights and also explore the local way of life there. I really enjoyed it and would definitely return again for a stay. It’s a great place to base yourself for a few days of panda-viewing, with the Dujiangyan Panda Base and Panda Valley both 20-30 minute drives away from the main city centre, and the Wolong Shenshuping Base just an hour into the mountains. Plus it’s only an hour from Chengdu (and the Chengdu Panda Base) by car, or a quick 20 minute train ride (although the station for this train is a little outside the Chengdu city centre) – so it’s very convenient for fellow panda fans!
Continue Reading “China Diaries: May 2024 #5 ~ Dujiangyan City Strolls”No3 Giant Panda House @ Panda Valley, May 2024
And the final panda area in Panda Valley is the No3 Giant Panda House! Here I saw two more pandas, both were outside on my visits, but there were also indoor areas – this was a good spot for a break, it was in the shade and nice and cool, plus plenty of spaces to sit down (there aren’t a lot of benches throughout the rest of the park). And it was quiet, there were only a couple of other people also enjoying the space when I was there. Onto the pandas: