The final pandas to share about from the No1 House – and they were my first youngsters of Chengdu Panda Base on this visit, it’s Xiao Ya Tou 小丫头 and her 2023-born twins! Since my visit the cubs have now been announced as named CC and 99 … not sure how much I get that, but I guess there’s good reasoning behind it! When I was there there was only a sign for Xiao Ya Tou, you wouldn’t know there were her cubs in with her unless you saw them – and it’s a big yard with lots of plant coverage so they could easily hide away out of sight. Now, however, there is new signage so visitors know there are 3 pandas living there.

My third and final absolute priority was to see the German-born twins Meng Yuan and Meng Xiang at the Chengdu Panda Base. These two were still living in the No1 House, however they had switched yards, being in the first one you come to if you enter the house from the original side of the base by walking up the hill – this yard is also a good one with a lot of viewing points to choose from. Alike last time, they are splitting time in the yard, so alternating days in who has use of the yard – as I write this however I have seen that they have now been completely separated with Meng Xiang remaining here and Meng Yuan moving to the Starry Sky Pavilion. This will almost make viewing easier as I will then know for sure which panda is which. On my last visit the sign at the yard was changed depending on who was present that day, on this visit they just had both names up – and I wasn’t certain enough to know who was who without seeing them next to each other XD Luckily after going through the pictures I could be sure that I definitely saw both of them, each on one day, and could distinguish between the two!

Of course a priority panda for me was Yuan Meng 圆梦 – born in France at the Zooparc de Beauval in 2017, he has been living in China since 2023 in this very yard and I’ve seen him annually since then! Now this is my third time seeing him in China, but fourth time overall as I saw him in France before he moved – honestly I feel so lucky about that! And I’ve really enjoyed every visit to see him so I hope that can continue^

On the first day of my visit this time I spent ages at his yard but I had no luck in seeing him, so on my second day this was the first stop for me (worked out well that Hua Hua viewing was only the first day of my visit) and I sped walked up the hill to get to the No1 House quickly. It paid off because he was out and active already. He was walking around his yard a lot, making us of all the space, both the ditch around the perimeter, then would climb up onto the main area and appear out through the trees. I got some great shots of him walking through his water which I was really pleased about as I had scoped out that spot to wait in and then stood for a while waiting for him to come along just at the right place and angle. Closer to lunchtime the keeper came out and threw some more bamboo in for him and he was then pretty content to sit against a ledge and enjoy his feast. Also his white fur is getting dirtier every time I see him, it looks like he had a good role around in the undergrowth before I got there XD

I found viewing him was very easy this time, fewer people seemed interested in stopping for long periods of time and because he kept moving there wasn’t a crowd building up in one place, so I was able to get whatever spot I wanted.

Sweet Mei Lan 美兰, who was born at Zoo Atlanta in 2006 and has been living at the Chengdu Panda Base since 2010. Last year I saw him in the Starry Sky Pavilion, this year he was living in the No5 House, almost neighbours to Hua Hua and He Ye. The yards here are huge and full of foliage, plenty of places to hide out and enjoy bamboo where you’re not in direct view of the public. And that was very much what he was doing, it really was a quick view of him that I got! He was enjoying a pile of bamboo shoots when I saw him, tucked in behind some bushes about 8-10 meters into the yard – so he was a little hidden from view. He was pretty popular, there was a very large group of people watching him when I was there and I heard at least a couple of American accents so he definitely had some fans!

Spending my last 2 days in Chengdu at the Chengdu Panda Base! I am very much at the point where 2 days is a bit short for getting everything in, so I think this will be the last time that I can only do 2 days, I need to try out 3 or possibly even 4 next time – and that’s with some areas not open as well! I’ve written a lot about the base before, there are plenty of other posts to check out for introductions and more general photos, but here just some quick updates and of course the best first pandas to see on a trip: Hua Hua and He Ye =D