These 4 are arguably some of the most famous and popular pandas on social media – the fabulous 4 of two sets of twins, males Shuang Shuang 双双 and Chong Chong 重重 born to Lan Xiang, and female Xi Xi 喜喜 and Qing Qing 庆庆 born to Mang Zai, all on the same day in 2019! At 5.5 years old these 4 are now getting on the older side to be all living together – it was fate that quite literally 3 days before I went to Chongqing, largest and strongest, male Shuang Shuang, was separated from his peers and now lives adjacent to them. He did seem to still be interested in them, there is a glass wall between the two yards so he can both see and smell them next door, but overall he didn’t seem to be in any distress at being separated from his long-time friends. The other 3 seemed to be getting along just fine, there was only one incident where two of them wanted the same piece of bamboo from the huge pile on offer!
It was always very busy at these yards, and was a bit of a fight to get to the front most times, and then getting out again – the crowd could easily be 5 or 6 people deep. I met a lovely fellow photographer at their yard and she was telling me how to tell the 3 apart who are still together (of course, now I’ve forgotten which panda is which!). Overall there were fewer hard-core panda photographers here, and more live-streamers.
Shuang Shuang 双双
So Shuang Shuang is now living alone, I mean now at least he gets all the bamboo on offer and doesn’t need to pull the best piece out of someone else’s’ paws?! He did seem ok being by himself and was enjoying climbing on his frame and exploring his yard. There were fewer toys/climbing options but maybe if this was a last-minute decision to separate him there wasn’t time to arrange the yard as might have otherwise been done. He still seemed playful, having a few runs and swinging from his wooden bridge very adorably. And he did seem to enjoy having his pile of bamboo all to himself^
Chong Chong 重重, Xi Xi 喜喜 + Qing Qing 庆庆
Chong Chong, Xi Xi and Qing Qing are all still living together (or at least were when I was there) and were getting along just fine. In fact they spent the majority of the time I was there eating bamboo and left very little time for much else. They have a nice sized yard and a few different climbing options, of course alongside a table and chairs for 4 – I saw one show an interest in the table, but I think I had missed prime time viewing for that. Later in the afternoon the door to the indoor space at the back was open, but all 3 were quite happy to sit out and continue eating. A super cute trio even though pal Shuang Shuang (I guess the leader of the group?!) was now next door^
