Next up is the Cloud Sun Pavilion in the Panda Reception Hall – here there are 2 indoor homes and 5 outdoor yards. Last time I saw Jing Liang and Fu Shun living in the indoor spaces, this time there were only pandas outside, and I saw Jing Liang again! The 5 pandas listed as living in the yards were Jing Liang, He Qi, Ya Yun, Yun Wen and Zhao Mei – I didn’t see any of Zhao Mei, I’m a little sad about this because she looks absolutely adorable in the photos I’ve seen online, maybe next time! The others I didn’t see a lot of, however I had good luck with Jing Liang^

This was by far the most quiet area of the base, there were only a handful of other visitors around the viewing paths of this pavilion at any time I was around here.

He Qi 和琪

He Qi 和琪 was very well tucked away through the trees and bushes in her yard, it was hard to spot her, so I guess any passing visitors might easily have just walked past thinking there was no panda to see. He Qi is a female, born in 2011, making her 13.5 years old on my visit. Like her sign says, I would agree that her fur is quite bright white, she really popped amongst the green of the leaves and trees. When I saw her she was just enjoying her bamboo. She is siblings to a number of well-known pandas through her mother, including one of my favourites Gong Zai and twins He Hua (aka Hua Hua) and He Ye.

Ya Yun 娅韵

Ya Yun 娅韵 was also enjoying her bamboo when I saw her, at least she wasn’t as difficult to see as she was sat right in the open near the front of the yard. Her sign says she likes to be quiet and I think she was happy to sit out because it was so quiet with almost no visitors. She became a mother for the first time in 2018 to twins, one of whom I also saw in the same pavilion (Yun Wen, although I only saw her sleeping on a platform half way back into the yard). She then had a second pregnancy in 2023 with one cub, Xing Yun, but she also was surrogate mother to Lun Wen, one of the twins of Mei Lun (born at Zoo Atlanta) who were born in the same year – lots of pictures of these youngsters online!

Jing Liang 晶亮

I saw Jing Liang 晶亮 last year in this pavilion and he was super cute then thoroughly enjoying his bamboo – well nothing has changed! This time he was outside, sitting near the front of the viewing between 2 big piles of bamboo, the perfect spot^ He was the most popular panda in the yard, this was where I saw all the other visitors (all 5 or so of them), and he seemed pretty content with that.