The first mum with a cub that I saw in the Star Nursery was Yi Yun 怡云 and her cub, or I should say one of her cubs – she had twins in 2024, however whenever I was at the yard I only saw one cub at a time. So either the other cub was out but just not visible, or she is just having one cub at a time. I’m also not sure if I saw the same cub at all my visits to the yard or if I did actually see both!

On the first day of my visit, both mum and cub were more chilled, it was all about the post-lunch nap as I didn’t make it to this area until after lunch time. On the second day I had prioritised getting to this area before lunch and that was really perfect because I saw some great moments of activity. When I first got there the keeper was in doing some cleaning but was then joined by a few other staff members, either a tree had fallen or had been cut down and they were moving it – of course the cub wanted to check out what was going on so followed them over and wanted to play on the tree! Absolutely adorable, and seeing the cub interacting with the keepers was also very cute. The keeper then had a bit of a task trying to leave as the baby just wanted to follow her! But shortly after Yi Yun was let back in and baby went to play/bother her while she enjoyed some bamboo. I went back a bit later and baby was very active, climbing on different height logs and climbing up a tree, these were very popular moments with lots of visitors watching and cheering when she didn’t fall over^ At my next stop by, Yi Yun was trying to have a rest but someone just wanted to play with her – eventually she settled down and they took a nap together. On my final stop by of the day baby was awake again and trying out some bamboo, small pieces of course, but showing an interest in it – very cute =)

Yi Yun is another interesting panda, when I saw her mother is listed as Fei Fei I could only think of the Fei Fei I saw in Dujiangyan – but that is correct, Yi Yun is a CCRCGP panda and is another one who has been swapped to Chengdu Base, and clearly it was a good move as she has already had a successful breeding season. Another fun fact, on her sign it highlights her ‘white socks’, I think perhaps this was more prominent when she was a cub, but this is something she has passed on to at least one of her cubs because just look at those little white toesies on the cub in some of the pictures, just adorable^

Similar to in the Moon Nursery, in the Star Nursery I also saw a mixed set of pandas – mums with cubs, older cubs alone, and also adults alone. First up, those adults! The Star Nursery has 4 inside and 8 outside yards, I did take a quick look inside but there were only pandas in the outdoor yards on this visit. Over the 2 days in these 8 yards I saw 4 mums with cubs, a pair of ‘toddler’ cubs alone, and 5 adults alone (1 of whom I didn’t end up seeing at all, this was Fu Wa, and I only saw a small glimpse of Ao Ao). Overall I really like the yards in this area, they are quite mixed with different terrains, levels of planting, and climbing options, so you do get a variety even though they’re all at one house. And for the most part, viewing is easy at all the yards, there is plenty of space, sometimes 2 levels for viewing, and most have a clear view i.e. not through glass.

The final pavilion of the Panda Reception Hall – Reflecting Sun Pavilion. Again, it’s a 2 indoor-5 outdoor set up, and again I had mixed success seeing the pandas. Last year across my 2 days at the base I saw 5 of the 6 listed pandas living in this pavilion, this time I saw 4 of the 6 listed, and had luck getting photos of Run Yue and Ai Jiu who I didn’t get good pictures of last time. I was also happy to see Cheng Lan again, although the photos look much the same as last time XD This was one of the busier pavilions in this area, but by no means was it super crowded, I was still able to get in and get photos from all the angles that I wanted.

Sticking with the Panda Reception Hall, next is the Rising Sun Pavilion, which again has 2 indoor spaces and 5 outdoor yards. Much like the Cloud Sun Pavilion, I had mixed successes seeing pandas here – I think I really just got there at the wrong times, but did try and visit in both the morning and afternoon. Last time I saw Cheng Lan, Chong Yang and Fu Shuang – this time Chong Yang and Fu Shuang are still living here but I didn’t really see them. Also here are Er Qiao (also didn’t see), Ni Xiao and her 2023-born cub and the Madrid Zoo-born twins Jiu Jiu and You You! After being sad that I didn’t see them last year, I was so excited to see them outside this time^

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.