1. Hehua Panda Booms The Panda Tourism Economy Since 2023
Hehua Panda, the top female celebrity in the panda community, has revealed the booming panda economy with her astonishing abilities. The boom of the panda economy is mainly reflected in the panda tourist attractions, cultural and creative panda industry, and even urban tourism consumption in Chengdu.
It is reported that the ticket sales of the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base increased by 9 times year-on-year. According to data from the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, during the May Day holiday, 264000 tourists visited the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base to see Hehua Panda, making the Chengdu Panda Base the second of the top ten popular tourist attractions in China. Qunar Big Data Research Institute estimates that the annual ticket revenue of the base is expected to exceed 130 million yuan (18.5 million dollars).
At the entrance of the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base
Besides the Chengdu Panda Base to visit, there are more and more Hehua panda’s crafts and arts, including the magazine “Hehua Panda”, Hehua panda’s wallpapers, Hehua panda’s plushies. Some people lined up for it, some wrote books for it, and some hand painted a portrait of it, which appeared on the Times Square screen in New York. On social platforms such as Weibo, Tiktok and Xiaohongshu, "Hehua lovers" can be seen everywhere editing videos, making facial expression packs and publishing photos for Huahua.
Hehua panda's cultural craft
Hehua Pandas adds heat to Chengdu——"City of Pandas". According to data from the travel website Qunar platform, the number of flight reservations to Chengdu in March 2023 increased by 20% compared to before the pandemic (2019), and Buying a ticket to the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Sichuan for RMB 50 can drive local transportation, accommodation, and other expenses by RMB 1450 (USD 210). With Hehua Panda‘s power, Hehua has driven the development of Chengdu's "panda economy".
In addition to the popularity of the panda Hehua in China, it is also very famous internationally and widely followed by panda lovers around the world. It has a large number of followers on social media platforms such as Tiktok, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube. At the 2024 Spring Festival Gala of the the Year of the Loong in China, the representative of hehua panda, hehua panda doll, appeared on the stage, and together with famous performers, they sent New Year greetings to people around the world on behalf of China.
2. General Introduction
"Hehua" panda is a female panda. Her nicknames include "Huahua" and "Guolai", “Huahua” means “Flower”, “Guolai” means coming in Chinese. Huahua was born on July 4, 2020, together with her twin sister He Ye, in the Moon Delivery Room of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. She weighed 200 grams at birth. Her mother is Cheng Gong, known as the "Princess Mysophobia", and her father is a returned giant panda named Mei Lan.
In 2023, Hehua panda became a panda top star on Chinese social platforms. She caused panda craze on multiple social platforms and became the "top female star in the panda community", and she topped many hot search lists of social platforms.
On April 25, 2024, Chengdu Culture and Tourism announced that "Hehua, female, 3 years and 9 months old, is a bear from Chengdu, Sichuan. She is currently pursuing a full-time doctoral degree in kindergarten and has served as a publicity ambassador for the Universiade and a special guest for the 2024 Spring Festival Gala. She is now appointed as the Honorary Director of Chengdu Culture and Tourism. Congratulations to our Hehua Panda for her new title and excellent resume.
3. Hehua Panda's Appearance
Why Hehua panda is so beautiful? How to distinguish hehua and others panda bears? We can differentiate them from the aspects below.
Feet: When young, there are white foot rings on the feet of Hehua panda, which become faintly visible as they grow up; The white hair on the tip of the right foot becomes more prominent.
Eyes: For panda Hehua, black circles are wide on the top and narrow on the bottom. While, most pandas have narrow tops and wide bottoms in general.
Nose: Short nose, it's a bit like some dogs. Heye Panda and other pandas' noses are slightly longer, making them appear more aggressive. However, the black part of Hehua panda's nose is also not very large, making her look very beautiful and cutie.
Noses Differences Between Hehua Panda and He Ye Panda
Hair: Hehua panda has longer hair, which appears to be messy when young, but as she grow up, her fluffy hair makes herself more round and chubby compared with other panda bears, which makes her more adorable.
Head: Hehua Panda has a round and cartoonish head.
Neck: Short neck, Hehua panda looks like no neck from a distance, appears even shorter and chubby.
Ears: Hehua panda has short round ears, resembling two balls. Other pandas have longer ears.
The diffences of ears between Hehua panda and other pandas
4. Reasons for Being Loved
First, the reason why panda fans like her is that her distinctive appearance makes her easily recognized among many pandas. Hehua Panda is relatively small, round and chubby, and her head is almost integrated with her body, seems to no neck, which gives her a very cute look. Compared to other pandas of the same age, her fur color is pure white, adding to her uniqueness.Second, the video of Panda Hehua peeling bamboo shoots was posted on social media also gained her a lot of attention. In the video, her peeled bamboo shoots were always snatched away by other peers, and her helpless expression aroused the affection and compassion of many netizens. In addition, Panda huahua also stubbornly stopped her sister panda heye from snatching apples, showing her full smartness and gentleness.
Panda Hehua stopped her sister panda Heye from snatching apples
5. About Hehua Panda's Family Members
Panda Hehua's family members include father Panda Meilan, mother Panda Chenggong, and brothers and sisters, including twin sisters Panda Heye, eldest brother Panda Gongzai, second sister Panda Heqi, third sister Panda Hemei, fourth brother Panda Hexing, fifth brother Panda Hesheng, and sixth brother Panda Hefeng, Seventh Sister Panda Heyu and elder sisters Panda Mengbao and Panda Mengyu.
- Father Meilan: Born on September 6, 2006 at the Atlanta Zoo in the United States, returned to the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base on February 5, 2010. Previously identified as female, a series of male panda sexual maturation reactions occurred, and after testing, it was found to be male.
- Mother Cheng'gong: Born on September 11, 2000 at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, she and her younger sister are a pair of twin babies born overnight. Their biggest feature is that their shoulder straps are broken and they love cleanliness. They are known as the "cleanliness princess".
- Brother Menglan: Born on July 4, 2015 at Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, currently residing at Beijing Zoo. Due to his jailbreak, he has gained widespread attention from netizens.
- Sister Heye, born on July 4, 2020 with twin sister Hehua at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base. Heye was determined to be male at birth, but as he grew up, his male characteristics were not obvious. After expert testing, Heye was identified as a female panda.
Hehua Panda's Family Members
Guangdong Sibao Stainless Steel Products Co., Ltd. adopted panda twins Hehua and Heye on July 4, 2020, named Sibao and Pan'ao respectively.
As one of the top pandas, the Hehua panda has driven the boom of panda tourism. This important milestone has not only promoted the development of tourism in Chengdu and Sichuan, but also contributed to the flourishing development of panda tourism and panda cultural and creative products in the world, as well as the excellent achievements of China's panda diplomacy.
6. Accelerating the Promotion of Panda Economy in the Future
As a gathering place for panda culture and creativity, Panda Post Office has become a must visit destination for tourists visiting Chengdu, offering panda ice cream, panda postmarks, drinking panda coffee, and exploring panda culture and creativity.
Panda Book Store
In the future, we need to deeply explore the philosophical implications contained in the natural behavior of giant pandas, and protect and develop the image of giant pandas through personification, individualization, and industrialization, creating a distinctive and uniquely identifiable panda IP.
To accelerate the release of the vitality of the panda economy, firstly, increase the design of panda themed buildings, integrate panda elements into the architectural design, build landmark buildings with panda shapes or characteristics, and attract the attention of domestic and foreign tourists.
Secondly, create a panda culture block that combines panda culture with commerce and tourism. Panda themed stores, restaurants, cafes, etc. can be set up to create a strong panda culture atmosphere and meet the needs of more domestic and foreign tourists.
In addition, panda themed residences can be developed for specific customer groups. The residential area can adopt a panda themed decoration style, providing services and facilities related to pandas to meet people's love and pursuit of pandas.
There are many panda habitats and protected areas in Sichuan, which can be utilized to create more panda themed tourist attractions, attract more tourists to come and observe pandas, experience panda culture, and further boost the local economy while enhancing people's awareness of panda conservation. Afterwards, since the economy boom fueled by Hehua panda, more efforts have and will be made to promote and unleash the panda economy, driving the development of tourism and surrounding industries in Chengdu and Sichuan Province.
We are looking forward to the development of a landmark city for pandas.
See more news about Hehua panda:
1. Hua Hua is the smallest audience of the 2024 Spring Festival Gala.
2. Panda Hua Hua was locked up outside on New Year's Eve!
3. Hehua panda and Heye panda are sisters!