"Have you seen Fu Bao?" "Where can I see Fu Bao?"

On June 12, Fu Bao was a hot topic among people who visited the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The name "Fu Bao" was heard everywhere. The Shenshuping giant panda base started to show Fu Bao to the public from noon that day. It has been more than two months since the panda was returned to China on April 3.

Only 999 people who made advance reservations were allowed to enter the base on the day. The base was so large that it did not feel crowded, but there was a long line in front of the enclosure where Fu Bao stayed. The panda, which made her appearance to reporters first at around 9:39 a.m., walked from the indoor living space to the outdoor enclosure, lying down and performing a “bamboo eating show." Her facial expression was cheerful, and the white fur on her body was stained brown. After finishing her meal, Fu Bao slept all afternoon, forcing visitors to wait more than two hours to see her face. They waited without complaint in the scorching sun and in the shower.

When Fu Bao woke up at around 3:38 p.m., the visitors, who were sitting and waiting, burst into laughter and stood up in an instant, raising their phones and cameras high in unison. Fu Bao sat with her back to the visitors, so they could not see her face, but no one screamed and woke her up. Ms. Wang, from Beijing, said with a smile, "I’ll have to watch her wake up on TikTok."

The China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda held a press conference the day before and said that “it is true that Fu Bao has partial hair loss, but she is generally healthy.”

He added that the mole on her forehead is a "beauty spot," which was created when she slept in a sitting position, leaning against the handles and corners of her cage during cage acclimatization training. "Initially, she ate less and had fewer bowel movements because she was adjusting to her new environment, but now she is eating a stable amount of food," he said. "When she met other pandas, she was a little scared at first because she hadn't met many pandas, but she is integrating into the panda community by making sounds and communicating with the pandas around her."

There is a dedicated team of two keepers, two veterinarians, and a nutritionist at the Shenshuping giant panda base to care for Fu Bao. The enclosure has about 10 trees, a pond, a low wooden bench, and rocks. It was unfortunate that she was hard to escape visitors’ eyes because the place was open in all directions. However, the panda can go into the indoor living space to rest whenever she wants.

Visitors were generally well behaved. Most of the pandas were sleeping in the afternoon, so they gathered in front of the enclosures where pandas were climbing trees or active. They talked under their breath, and when pandas turned their heads to look at them, they exclaimed in a very low voice.

Chinese people love pandas as much as Fu Bao’s fans. As pandas have long been recognized as a national treasure in China, their fan base is much wider and thicker, which was evident at the panda base on the day. Many visitors were wearing panda-shaped bags and headbands. There were also many people carrying parasols with Fu Bao’s pictures.

Fu Bao’s fans also showed their affinity for Korea. When I asked them if they had seen Fu Bao, they would introduce themselves to me, saying, "Are you Korean? We are also Fu Bao’s fans." A woman who introduced herself by the nickname "Nikuchan" said, "I'm also a member of the Naver’s Bao family fan cafe," and showed me a photo on her phone of herself with Kang Bao (Kang Chul-won keeper) and Song Bao (Song Young-kwan keeper) at Everland.

The “alleged abuse of Fu Bao” was first raised by Chinese fans. Last month, a conspiracy theory circulated that the Chinese government leases pandas abroad not for diplomatic purposes, but to conduct biological experiments on them.

Sichuan, a basin surrounded by mountains on all sides, has a mild climate all year round. It is often referred to as China's brazier during the summer months, but the base is located in the mountains at 1,700 meters above sea level, so it stays cool. Panda bases in Chengdu sometimes announce that pandas are brought into air-conditioned indoor enclosures during extreme heat. The decrease in bamboo habitats due to climate change is emerging as a new risk factor.