The giant panda "He Hua" and the giant panda keeper Grandpa Tan at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
China Youth Daily, China Youth Network Intern Reporter Chen Xiao Reporter Qi Zheng.
At 6 o'clock in the morning, dozens of people lined up outside the gate of the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Sichuan, waiting along the fence to enter, and there was still one and a half hours before the opening of the park. Tourists at the front of the queue told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that they lined up at the entrance of the park at about 6 o'clock in the morning, and they could basically see "Huahua" (the nickname of the giant panda "Hehua" - reporter's note).
With its cute image and the identity of a rare species, the giant panda has attracted a large number of tourists to visit, and seeing pandas has become an important purpose for many tourists. Chengdu's "Huahua", Beijing's "Menglan", Chongqing's "Yuke" and "Yuai" ......These names will be even more popular in 2023.
Regardless of weekdays and holidays, the juvenile panda villa park where "Huahua" lives is often crowded, with queues from inside the park to outside the gate.
At 7:40, the reporter found that the team watching "Huahua" had been discharged 500 meters. On the left side of the reporter stood a sign that said: It will take more than two hours to queue up here to see "Huahua".
Queue for two hours and watch "Huahua" for three minutes.
If you want to see the "flowery" side, you need to withstand the "super long standby" physical strength of the hours of queuing and the god-sent luck that it happens to be "open" when the queue arrives. In order to give tourists the opportunity to see "Huahua", the park has taken measures to limit the flow of traffic, therefore, many netizens joked: "Queue for two hours and watch 'Huahua' for 3 minutes." ”
On July 4, 2022, Li Meng inadvertently swiped the birthday of the two sisters "Hehua" and "Heye" on the short** platform. I used to think that pandas looked similar, but 'Huahua' was very recognizable, which was different from the pandas in my memory. After reading it once, Li Meng repeated it nearly 10 times. Two months later, she came to the "Huahua" park for a field visit. She remembers that there were still relatively few people in the park that year, "basically about 20 people, and at most they stood in 2-3 rows, which was relatively quiet." It really became popular in February 2023, "Maybe the epidemic has lasted for more than 2 years, which has suffocated everyone, and after the epidemic is over, I want to be closer to nature and animals."
Later, Li Meng became the host of "Huahua" Weibo "Super Talk". She basically goes to see "Huahua" 3 times a week, and posts the "Huahua"**and** photographed on her Internet account. "On the one hand, I can let more concerned netizens know about the situation of giant pandas, and on the other hand, I have become a bridge between panda fans and the base. "If fans have any suggestions or opinions that need to be transmitted, Li Meng can inform the breeders or staff offline so that they can make further judgments.
Li Meng said frankly that after becoming a fan of "Huahua", in addition to working and sleeping, she basically was at the base or paying attention to "Huahua". "But I feel very fulfilling. Watching the panda made Li Meng very relaxed, and she never got tired of it.
When visiting offline, Li Meng often sees uncivilized phenomena, such as yelling, throwing food to feed, and even taking a dog to visit. "Pandas' sense of hearing and smell are very sensitive, and the food they eat is also specially provided after quality inspection, and the bacteria carried by dogs may infect pandas with the deadly disease of canine distemper, which has a precedent in the Qinling giant panda. When Li Meng paid attention to "Huahua"'s Weibo "Super Talk", there were only 50,000 followers, and now the fans have grown to more than 800,000. "I want to use this platform to pass on some popular science about civilized visits, as well as knowledge about the giant panda community, so that everyone likes giant pandas more. She said.
Giant pandas bring me ** and happiness".
This year, 32-year-old Shuai Wanjun's WeChat name and avatar are giant pandas, and there is a display cabinet on the left hand side of her bedroom door, which is full of giant panda dolls and other peripheral products. Every day when she goes to work, she will carry a canvas bag with a special "Huahua" badge, even if she changes it every day, the bag will not be the same for half a month.
In 2021, as a medical worker, Shuai Wanjun felt unprecedented work pressure. She often had trouble sleeping, and at three or four o'clock in the morning, her spirits began to be excited, accompanied by panic, anxiety and headaches, and she could not fall asleep. After going to the hospital for a check-up, Shuai Wanjun found out that she was suffering from moderate anxiety and mild depression.
Shuai Wanjun also learned about the giant panda group through short **. "I saw that the three little ones of 'Hehua', 'Heye' and 'Runyue' were sitting together eating bamboo shoots, and 'Huahua' would be snatched away every time they finally peeled the bamboo shoots, and I thought it was very funny. She began to search the Internet often for clips of pandas getting along with each other, and in them, Shuai Wanjun saw a lot of "qualities worth learning from humans."
She took "Huahua" as an example, "It will not be irritable and angry because it is robbed of food, it can't get along with itself, it does not fight or grab, it always feels that it will have the next bamboo shoot to eat, and it is very good at mastering the rhythm of life." Shuai Wanjun was also moved by the strength of "Huahua", due to the congenital valgus of the right foot, climbing a tree is a more difficult thing for "Huahua", but it does not give up, and it works hard every time he climbs the wooden frame and bed. "I should also learn from its spirit of never admitting defeat and perseverance, and not bowing to life's setbacks. ”
Qin You and Shuai Wanjun have the same feelings, her favorite giant panda is the "Fushuang" of the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base, and when she sees fascinated, she can stand there for two hours in a row. In her opinion, "Fushuang" is a particularly low-key giant panda who never takes the initiative to provoke his companions. "Once, 'Chongyang' teased 'Fushuang' with his paws, and 'Fushuang' didn't pay attention to it, but in the end it was provoked, and 'Fushuang' beat it from beginning to end. The way animals get along with each other is very similar to that of people, if people don't offend me, I won't offend people, and if people offend me, I will offend people. ”
When she is on vacation, Shuai Wanjun likes to go to zoos around the world to see pandas. In the past two years, she has been to the Shenshuping Base of the Chinese Giant Panda Garden in Wolong, Sichuan, Dujiangyan Panda Valley and Panda Paradise, and Guangzhou Chimelong Wildlife World. "Every time I see a panda, I laugh, and before I go to bed at night, I brush the giant panda**, and sometimes I fall asleep while brushing. Giant pandas are really beautiful animals, and my biggest dream in life is to see giant pandas all over the country. Shuai Wanjun said. In 2023, her insomnia will also be cured.
Giant pandas can make me feel ** and happy in my busy life. Qin You said. Seeing their carefree appearance, she herself forgot about the hustle and bustle of the city and began to enjoy nature to the fullest.
After Li Meng became the host of "Super Talk", she received a lot of contributions, and they were also impressed by the contribution of a fan of Giant Panda's **. Fans who had one breast removed because of breast cancer suffered from depression and were reluctant to go out because of low self-esteem. After seeing the ** of "Huahua" by chance, she was moved by this strong giant panda. "'Huahua' is not as powerful as other pandas, and he is not good at climbing trees, and even if he is injured, he does not give up on himself, and I can start again. ”
In order to realize the freedom to see giant pandas, she settled in Chengdu.
At the beginning of 2021, Qin You traveled to Chengdu for the first time with a tour group, and at the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, due to the repeated urging of the tour guide, she "didn't see enough giant pandas". When she was about to graduate from graduate school, she began to pay attention to job opportunities in Chengdu, "I can realize the freedom of seeing giant pandas in Chengdu." Since then, she has been going to see the pandas every once in a while. At the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base, she stays for a day, entering at 8 a.m. and leaving the park at 6 p.m.
Speaking of pandas, Qin You couldn't close the box when he opened it. In 2003, China launched captive giant panda rewilding training and reintroduction research, and many giant pandas have participated in rewilding training. "Fushuang" is the daughter of "Huahua's" eldest brother "Gongzai" and the giant panda "Fulu" exchanged from Beijing Zoo, and its uncle is the Internet celebrity panda "Fat Dahai"; Mang Xing Xing and Man Chenchen are twin sons of the giant panda Mang Tsai; "Liangyue" and "Yubao" and "Yubei" are aunts and nephews who grew up together, ......
Every time he looks at the giant pandas, Qin You will carefully study the identity information on the introduction board, and after returning home, he will consult the information to find out the kinship between the giant pandas. "After knowing their backgrounds, I will compare their genetic characteristics, so that it will be more fun to see pandas. ”
Qin You felt that each panda had its own characteristics, and she could recognize almost all the pandas she had seen. "The width of each panda's black shoulder straps, the shape of the ears, the dots on the nose, and the shape of the eye distance and eye circles are different. Her discovery of these is based on her long-term and meticulous observation of the giant panda community.
Around 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. is the most active time for giant pandas; Between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., most of the pandas are sleeping; At about 1 p.m., the keeper will feed them, and after 4 p.m. they will go to bed again. "Qin You has summed up the rules of giant panda activities, and he will go to see them whenever he has time, for fear of missing their growth.
In the past year, every time Qin You came to the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, he would see crowds of tourists gathered around the juvenile giant panda villa, wanting to see the beauty of the top "female star" and "Huahua". "With so many people moving every day, the smell is likely to affect 'Waka' and 'Kazuha', and for a while I saw 'Waka' hiding in the woods and not coming out at all. ”
If visitors come to the zoo out of love for giant pandas, I hope people can divert their attention to more giant pandas. Qin You said that every giant panda is very cute and very **.
Giant pandas have lived on the earth for at least 8 million years, longer than we humans, and if we protect the environment in a way that is conducive to their survival, it will certainly be beneficial to our human survival. "Qin You hopes that everyone can see more animal groups through giant pandas, protect the environment around us, and protect the home we rely on for survival.
At the request of the interviewee, Li Meng and Qin You are pseudonyms in the article).
*: China Youth Daily.