The third and final panda to share about in the No1 Giant Panda House is of course Mei Lan 梅兰, also known as Rou Rou! She is a particularly famous panda because of her adorable round face and has a huge fandom on social media (you can find so many videos online). She is now 8 years old and was born to mum Mei Bang 梅浜, who was born overseas in Wakayama Adventure World, Japan. Alongside her round face, she also has quite distinctive golden fur. She is also well-known for her fondness of pumpkins, which I just think is so sweet, I was a little sad there was no pumpkin for her to eat when I was there! She is described as being active and lively, and enjoys interacting with her keepers. On my first visit, I only saw her sleeping on the platform, so this was a good reason to come back for my second visit to try and see her awake.

She was born at the Chengdu Panda Base in 2016, which means I likely saw her in the nursery when I went in 2016 and then in the kindergarten in 2017 (she may be in the final picture in this post) and 2018 before she moved to Panda Valley in December 2018. I completely didn’t realise this before now, things are really coming full circle now that I’ve been travelling to China over several years.

Next up in the giant panda houses at Panda Valley is No1 Giant Panda House. Here I saw signs for 3 giant pandas living here, and you could see them in outdoor yards, but there was also an indoor space for viewing as well. On my visit I saw 2 pandas outside and 1 inside, who I assume is the one I have an outdoor sign for but not outdoor pictures for – it seems like they all share indoor enclosure access in this house. In this post, two of the giant panda residents of the No1 Giant Panda House:

The final pandas to share about from the Panda Valley Breeding Centre are the trio of Cheng Lang 成浪, Cheng Feng 成风 and Ji Xiao 绩笑 who all live together in the largest yard in the Breeding Centre. These three girls were all born in 2019, making them now 5 years old. Cheng Lang and Cheng Feng are twins born to mother Cheng Da and father Mei Lan, who is an oversea’s returnee having been born at Zoo Atlanta in 2006 and who is currently living in Chengdu Panda Base and I saw later on this trip. Cheng Lang is also famous in her own right by being the lightest born surviving cub, she was just 42.8g which is crazy and typically around a third of that of the majority of cubs born! Her sign says she has a more pointed face and enjoys both cleanliness and eating while lying down – and yes, I definitely saw her enjoying her bamboo while reclined^ Cheng Feng her twin was born weighing 171.9g, four times that of her sister. She is lively and active, enjoying playing, and is also a clever quick learner. Ji Xiao is just a few days older than the twins and born to mum Ji Li, and while there is no father information on the sign, I saw online her father is also listed as Mei Lan. She was famous as a baby for having paler fur so was popular on social media. Her sign says she has a big face and is charmingly clumsy (adorable), she is also more timid and is slower to move – what a sweetheart! These three really seemed to be living together in a nice harmony, sharing their space well. I saw them both inside and outside on my visits, they were definitely the most active pandas that I saw at Panda Valley. They were mostly enjoying a bamboo feast when I saw them, and they generally quite happily sat at different spots eating the bamboo, there was very little arguing over who was getting the best piece of bamboo from a pile! As I visited Chengdu Panda Base in 2019 and saw lots of cubs, it’s very likely that some of the cubs in the pictures in my 2019 visit post were these three.

It was definitely busy at their yard, but they had the biggest space for viewing with options both at the front where you come up the stairs and along the back side of the yard. When I was there I did spot one of the pandas from the front viewing but she was walking up towards the back, but always saw two or all three of them up the back where there was a large platform and where most of the bamboo was placed.

One of the security guards there helped identify which panda was which – the first pictures below should be Ji Xiao, with Cheng Feng standing up on the edge of the pond space (wasn’t filled when I was there), and Cheng Lang is the one rolling around in the pile of bamboo whilst eating it. They did then move around and these photos are also from both visits, I only got which panda was which on my first visit.

The next panda to share with you also living solo in the Breeding Centre at Panda Valley is Oreo 奥莉奥! Oreo lives in the third yard upstairs in the Breeding Centre, so you have a circular view and can see him from just about any angle. When I was there he was up the back enjoying bamboo on both visits. On my first visit he was positioned quite near the edge of the yard and close to some perimeter bushes, so I couldn’t really see him well enough for pictures. I was very glad when I returned on my second visit and he was in a better spot. He was in the same area and still enjoying his bamboo! He was one of the more popular pandas, with a crowd of around 10-15 people who were taking up most of the viewing spot right in front of him, so I did have to wait a bit and get my elbows out when I wanted in. I think I had it in my head that Oreo was a younger panda, but he’s now 12 years old! But still looks young to me^ His sign says he is round and fond of bamboo, I can definitely attest to that =)