Here is the final of the 4 pavilions in the Panda Reception Hall, the Rising Sun Pavilion. Same setup as the others, and here I saw the same three pandas on both days of my visit – one solo and one pair. The app lists 7 pandas as living here, so there were 4 that I didn’t see (Er Qiao 儿巧, 13 years old; You You 友友, 3 years old; Jiu Jiu 久久, 3 years old; Cheng Jiu 成就, 10 years old) – now if the app current info is as it was on my visit (potential for change, but the 3 I did see are listed in this pavilion), that means I missed on seeing the You You and Jiu Jiu who were the twins born at Zoo Madrid in 2021. It’s quite likely they weren’t on show during my visit as they had only relatively recently returned from Spain so were maybe still adjusting to the different environment, but I’m so hoping I can see them next time because they have been a highlight of my European zoo visits, you can see photos *here*.
Cheng Lan 成兰
One of the pandas I saw here is Cheng Lan 成兰, a 2017-born panda, and it’s a name I remember from that time and always wanting to see him for some reason! I will have likely seen him as a cub when I visited in 2017. Clearly I always went past him after a meal and he was enjoying a rest, because on both days I only caught him snoozing up on a platform! He is a twin, with a sister called Da Mei 大美 who I don’t think I’ve ever seen, and they also have younger twin siblings who I have seen – Cheng Lang and Cheng Feng, born in 2019 and now living at Panda Valley! Their mother is Cheng Da 成大 and the father listed for all of the cubs is Mei Lan, who was born at Zoo Atlanta and has since made the trip to China and is clearly playing a great part in the breeding programme! And you can see him on show here at the Chengdu Base, photos coming soon^
Chong Yang 重阳 + Fu Shuang 福双
The pair of pandas I saw here were male Chong Yang 重阳 and female Fu Shuang 福双who were born in 2020, so 3.5 years old here. These two were super chilled out – I must have always gotten here just after food time because there was a lot of sleeping going on! On my second visit one of them was up and about so it may have been almost time for a refresh of the bamboo and they were looking for the keeper to bring more. I couldn’t find out much information about these two online, but it did say they were good friends and enjoyed eating together which I think is adorable^ I did see that Chong Yang has a twin sister, Zhu Hu 茱萸 – and actually she is the female who was chosen to move to Zoo Madrid, Spain at the start of 2024 so hopefully I will get a return visit in to Madrid and see her there.
