My first new panda location within China for this trip – I made it to Chongqing Zoo! I already discussed getting there, the fantastic panda-themed metro stop and what else I saw in Chongqing, but it’s time to share about the pandas. Chongqing Zoo has one of the largest collections of pandas outside of the main bases in Sichuan province, and because of that it’s incredibly popular – it likely didn’t help that I visited on a Saturday, but it was incredibly busy, possibly busier than I’ve seen Chengdu Base at on some visits. At the time I found this a bit off-putting and didn’t think I would return, but with more hindsight, I do think I’d still go back – just with a selfie/camera stick this time, I think this is the place where I’ve seen the most selfie sticks at one time!
Chongqing Zoo has quite a history with pandas and has, and continues to be, a success in the captive breeding programme. There are many pandas to be seen here! From the entrance closest to the metro, the panda area is the first that you come to, so of course most visitors are stopping here. There are two sections to the pandas, the lower first section has 7 yards – 6 of these have outdoor viewing only, 1 has both outdoor and indoor viewing. Of these 7, 5 yards are barrier-free, with plenty of viewing options. The other 2 yards are viewed only through glass, and I did find it more difficult to get photos of these pandas. There were a total of 11 pandas living in this area when I was there. The upper second section has 5 yards, all outdoor viewing only and all barrier-free. There were 7 pandas living in this area when I was there. There are also a number of off-show spaces here, I think there are around 5 pandas off show, this includes Er Shun who is the female who lived in Canada from 2014 to 2020. Er Shun was born here in Chongqing Zoo and after her travels, is now back again and has been successful in being in the breeding programme here.
One of the most famous residents was panda Xin Xing, who passed away in 2020. She was the oldest panda in the world for a while, living until 38 years old, and she has a large family tree (highlighted in a lovely diagram on display at the panda area). She had a number of offspring in her lifetime who have also been successful – many of the pandas living at Chongqing are her descendants, many from her son Ling Ling (born in 1995; he is Er Shun‘s father).
The area has been very panda-fied, there are a number of panda-specific souvenir shops – with some really nice options, definitely one of the best zoo shops I’ve been to – and panda-themed food to buy, I loved the dessert cabinet full of panda-decorated treats to try! I’m sad I didn’t go into the panda coffee shop, they had some panda-topped drinks on offer, so that’s something for next time. Alongside the this, the panda education was also good, there were plenty of signs up teaching all about pandas. I mostly looked at the breeding related ones – all signs were only in Chinese, but there were plenty of pictures to guess what was being discussed, and of course translate apps are also an option.
Hao Qi + Cub
The first panda I spotted at Chongqing Zoo was Hao Qi 好奇 – and at first look I only saw her, it was only later in the day that I then caught a glimpse of her 2024-born cub San Mei 三妹! Unless you know she had a cub, or saw the cub, there wasn’t any information at the yard that there was a cub there.
Hao Qi was born at Chongqing Zoo in 2013, making her 11.5 years old when I saw her. San Mei is her third cub after having twins in 2021. On my visit Hao Qi was walking around in the morning and I didn’t spot San Mei at that time. In the afternoon when I did see San Mei, Hao Qi was happy to let her go exploring alone while she sat and enjoyed her bamboo. She did spend some time playing with San Mei, but overall, San Mei is an adventurous cub and was happy to climb by herself. She was certainly incredibly active, perhaps the most active cub I saw on my trip – but also she was the first 2024-born cub I’ve seen, so very special for me =) There were lots of different climbing options for her, I really liked the bridges between the branches and I loved seeing San Mei walking along them confidently!
