HK Media’s Sichuan-Chongqing Tour: “Panda Fever” Sweeps Globally! Chengdu Base Sees Over 50% Surge in Overseas Visitors, Praised as “Incredibly Exciting”

On the second day of the “Hong Kong Media Sichuan-Chongqing Tour: Tale of Two Thriving Cities,” a group of about 30 Hong Kong journalists visited the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. As China promotes cultural and tourism development nationwide, this renowned attraction is innovating in exhibitions, activities, and outreach to sustain its appeal. This year, the base welcomed 6.23 million visitors, with overseas tourists surging over 50% compared to last year, signaling that “panda fever” is heating up both domestically and internationally.

As a renowned tourist attraction, the Chengdu Panda Base innovates in exhibitions, activities, and outreach to maintain its appeal. Photo by Bastille Post.

The Chengdu Panda Base has drawn 6.23 million visitors in 2025 so far, with foreign tourists making up 4%, including over 1,300 from Hong Kong. Since visa-free policies for foreign visitors began, the base saw a 183.81% increase in overseas visitors in 2024 compared to 2023, and a 57.21% rise in 2025 over 2024. The base frequently hosts international tourists, including Southeast Asian tour groups.

This year, the base has welcomed 6.23 million visitors so far. Photo by Bastille Post.

Photo by Bastille Post.

A first-time Romanian visitor to China described the base tour as an exciting experience. Photo by Bastille Post.

A first-time visitor from Romania described the experience as “incredibly exciting,” praising the adorable pandas and pleasant local weather. As a blogger, he plans to share videos and images showcasing Chengdu’s wonders with his followers. Having seen pandas in zoos in London and Berlin, where only a few were confined in enclosures, he found it thrilling to see so many pandas in a large, dedicated base. He also hopes to spot a particularly popular panda during further exploration.

An Australian visitor recalled owning a panda plush toy as a child, fostering a special connection and lasting fascination with pandas. Photo by Bastille Post.

An Australian tourist called it a rare chance to observe pandas up close in a natural setting. Recalling a childhood panda plush toy, he feels a special connection and lifelong fascination with pandas. He noted China’s loan of two pandas to Adelaide Zoo in Australia turned it into a tourism hotspot, drawing countless visitors, and hopes such exchanges strengthen bilateral friendship. He plans to invite friends to Chengdu to see pandas and enjoy a drink together.

Photo by Bastille Post.

With the National Day Golden Week approaching, the base expects visitor numbers similar to last year’s 400,000, averaging 57,000 daily. To manage crowds, the base caps daily visitors at 80,000, with separate morning and afternoon tickets, and enhances signage, guidance, and crowd control for quick entry and orderly visits.

Overseas visitors have surged by over 50% compared to last year. Photo by Bastille Post.

Photo by Bastille Post.

Photo by Bastille Post.

To enrich visitor experiences, the base uses immersive exhibits, interactive experiences, and recreated habitats to build a science education system, creating the world’s first panda-themed interactive museum. Along visitor routes, it has developed educational scenes covering pandas, golden monkeys, birds, bamboo, and insects.

The base enhances exhibitions with immersive tours, interactive experiences, and recreated habitats to build a science education system. Photo by Bastille Post.

The base offers diverse, engaging science education activities, including nine themed research courses and nine branded science programs, promoting biodiversity conservation knowledge centered on pandas. These activities remain free, encouraging broad participation.

Gift shops at the base offer panda-themed souvenirs for visitors. Photo by Bastille Post.

Visitors can enjoy cute panda-shaped latte art drinks. Photo by Bastille Post.

Additionally, themed around biodiversity, the base produces science books and films, blending online and offline outreach to vividly spread conservation messages, extending educational impact.

The base provides gift shops for purchasing panda souvenirs. Photo by Bastille Post.

For convenient ticketing, the base uses a real-name system; Hong Kong visitors can buy tickets online with documents like the Mainland Travel Permit, Hong Kong ID, Re-entry Permit, residence permit, or passport. Photo by Bastille Post.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Rong Niu's pink sequined dress shimmered under the arena lights at a recent Miami men's basketball game.

The popular halftime performer known as “Red Panda” finished her signature seven-minute set, looked up at a crowd of fans chanting her name and flashed a smile before dismounting.

Cameras rose instantly. A Hurricanes band member shouted "I love you, Red Panda!" A security guard shook his head in disbelief as a nearby fan asked aloud, "How does she do that?” Members of the Hurricanes' dance team lined up for photos with her before she made her exit.

Niu has grown somewhat accustomed to the fanfare over decades performing at NBA, WNBA and college basketball games — her first halftime show was a Los Angeles Clippers game in 1993. Still, even after sports fans rallied around her following a frightening fall during a WNBA game last July, she can hardly put words to what the support means to her.

“I feel so much support," Niu said after performing at Miami’s home game against Stanford on Wednesday. "It’s beyond support — I don’t know. I don’t have a better word to describe that feeling. That was beyond appreciation.”

Niu comes from a family of performing acrobats. She's been doing it since age 7, when her father first discovered her talent by helping her balance bowls and bricks on her head at their home in China’s Shanxi province.

Her act is composed of her riding a custom-built unicycle, which stretches about 8 feet above the court, and balancing custom-made bowls on her lower leg before flipping them atop her head.

During intermission of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup final between the Indiana Fever and the Minnesota Lynx, Niu fell off her unicycle and crashed to the court a minute into her performance. She remained down for several minutes, was eventually helped off by wheelchair and later diagnosed with a broken left wrist.

“I now realize I was disoriented. It was not just pain right here,” Niu said Wednesday, pointing to her left wrist, which she recalled being swollen and in immense pain. “I wasn’t very clear because of the impact. They said, ‘Can you walk?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and then I tried to stand up and walk. And then, I think I was passing out."

She spent 11 hours in a Minneapolis hospital, with a pair of Lynx staffers there with her the entire time. As she lay in the hospital bed, she wondered what could have gone wrong during the act she'd performed so many times.

“I’m not saying I’m that good or anything,” she said. “I generally don’t fall. Bowls fall, because the bowls are going into the air and sometimes I’m not able to control (them). But riding the unicycle ... it shouldn’t be out of control.”

Niu returned to the arena after being released from the hospital. Her unicycle was in the same place she'd left it in her dressing room.

She began to inspect it, checking the rotation of the wheel, looking at the handle. Then she noticed one of her pedals was slightly bent. She typically wraps her equipment very carefully when she travels, but it had somehow been damaged in transit; whether during security checks or on the airplane, she's not sure.

“Normally I would set up the unicycle. I will test it. I test like this," she said, turning her wheel as she demonstrated her process of checking the equipment. “I test it. But I didn’t test (the pedal).”

Niu still shudders at the memory of the fall, which required surgery and about four months of recovery, but she received an outpouring of support on social media, including from Fever star Caitlin Clark, as well as cards and gifts.

She returned to action on Oct. 23 for an Amazon Prime event, then back to the NBA court on Nov. 1 for a game between Chicago and Philadelphia.

Returning to the court hasn't been easy.

“I still have the thoughts,” she said. “I still have the thoughts when I start pedaling.”

But as fans chant her name, foregoing halftime trips to concession stands and restrooms to watch her perform, Niu is filled with both gratitude and motivation.

“I want to show that I can do this,” she said. “But (when) I couldn’t do it, they still chanted for me. I feel I owe them something. I feel very appreciative. I don’t have the best words to describe that feeling, but it’s a lot of support. It goes in my heart.”

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Red Panda carries her unicycle back to her dressing room after performing at halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Miami and Stanford in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Miami cheerleaders react as they meet Red Panda after she performed at halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Miami and Stanford in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Red Panda performs during halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Miami and Stanford in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Red Panda performs during halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Miami and Stanford in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Red Panda performs as Miami's mascot Sebastian the Ibis looks on during halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Miami and Stanford in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Red Panda performs during halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between Miami and Stanford in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)