The final post to share from my days at the Chengdu Panda Base – last time I had an amazing time seeing the quintet of Bei Chen 北辰, Zhi Yu 徵羽, Jiao Yi 娇毅, Wen Jing 文静 and Jia Xin 家欣, and this time they’re still in the same house as they were but in different smaller combinations. I loved seeing all 5 together, but of course as they get older that’s not so practical. So on the first day of my visit I saw Wen Jing, Zhi Yu and Jia Xin outside, while Bei Chen and Jiao Yi were inside, and on the second day I saw Bei Chen, Zhi Yu and Jiao Yi outside (I didn’t go inside on this day to see the others). So they are being mixed up in different combinations and I’m glad I still saw all 5 of them in the end! Their yard is huge, I think the largest one in this pavilion, it’s on a corner so there are two sides to view from. I did find the pandas generally spent their time in the back half of the yard, so sometimes they could be tricky to see – but possibly just due to the time I was visiting them at.

The Starry Sky Pavilion in the Panda Forest Area was definitely a highlight of my 2024 trip, and this time it was a fantastic spot for good panda viewing! Last time there were only pandas inside, this time I saw pandas both inside (although only in one space of the three) and outside – the outdoor yards here are pretty huge and are again quite varied, and viewing is pretty good, none of the yards are through glass although if the pandas are sitting near the building, then from the outdoor viewing path they are quite far away. There are 3 indoor spaces and 6 outdoor yards here – I saw a total of 10 pandas, so if you want to see a lot in one place, this is a good bet to go with! First up, the solo pandas I saw in this pavillion:

Back last year when I visited I spotted two 2023-born cubs together in the Star Nursery House and they were absolute cuties – this year I think I spotted these two all grown up almost a year later^ A very kind and helpful Instagram follower let me know that I saw Lun Wu 轮武 (Zoo Atlanta-born Mei Lun‘s son) and Jin Dou 金豆, who were raised together by Jin Dou‘s mum Zhao Mei (who I saw the sign for on a yard, but didn’t see her). Lun Wu has a twin sister, Lun Wen 轮文, who was raised alongside Xing Yun 星运 by Xing Yun‘s mum Ya Yun (a different Ya Yun to the one I saw in the Moon Nursery on this trip). The conclusion is that I think I saw Lun Wu and Jin Dou again this year – unfortunately there were no signs at the yard, and on the first say of my visit I didn’t see any pandas in this yard, and only very luckily went past on the second day and happened to see these two!

Lun Wu is the panda with the very fluffy round face – he seems a bit more shy and reserved, preferring to stay closer to the back of the yard and more hidden amongst the plants. Jin Dou is the panda who spent most of the day all the way up in the tree and only coming down when the keeper threw in some more bamboo! It was very cute seeing bamboo being collected quickly and then taken all the way up the tree to eat, it’s some skill being able to carry a mouthful of bamboo stems all the way up a tree^ I got lucky towards the end of the afternoon and Lun Wu had settled onto the wooden chair in a relatively plant-less view in the middle of the yard and could get some good photos – this yard is large and has a lot of plants, so it was quite tricky to get photos if the pandas were further back or slightly hidden from view. Then I ended the day seeing both of them settled in for a snooze up the same tree despite there being plenty of tree choices – so cute =D