Did you know that Macau is home to four giant pandas? Not many people are aware of that, and so it was no surprise that when we went and visited one Wednesday in January 2019, hardly any people were visiting this great location.
The pandas live in the Seac Pai Van Park, which is in Coloane at the southern part of Macau. The park itself is already lovely, but what was a great hit with the kids, are the animal exhibits. They are free to visit, and the tickets to see the pandas are only 10 MOP for adults (children and seniors are free).
A family of four pandas lives at the Giant Panda Pavilion:
- (Dad) Kai Kai, born in Chengdu in 2008
- (Mum) Xin Xin, born in Chengdu in 2007
- (Son) Jian Jian, born in Macau in June 2016
- (Son) Kang Kang, born in Macau in June 2016
During our visit, Jian Jian and Kang Kang were inside, sharing one exhibit together, while the exhibit next door was being renovated and upgraded with new plants and water features. They were both lazy and tired, but it was just after lunch, so they might have been full from eating plenty of bamboo!
Their dad Kai Kai was sleeping outside, but the mum Xin Xin was hidden from view. We didn’t see her that day, but that was ok, as we were happy to see the three pandas almost by ourselves, there were only two other people visiting the panda exhibit that time and day.
After we enjoyed watching these lazy giants, our kids played outside – there are plenty of panda statues to have fun with. We then went and looked at the red pandas, several different types of monkeys as well as birds, including flamingoes and peacocks.
What is nice about the park is that there is plenty of space to roam around, there is a playground, an area with workout equipment and also a few old trains that can be explored. Both our kids enjoyed this very much.
The park was very easy to get to. We took a taxi from our hotel at the Cotai strip to the park, but could not hail one on the way back. However, there is a bus stop next to the park and it was a quick ride on Bus 25 to get back to the Cotai strip.
The viewing sessions last an hour and run between 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm. The Giant Panda Pavilion is closed on Mondays.
Macau Giant Panda Pavilion
Seac Pai Van Park, Avenida de Seac Pai Van, Coloane, Macau
+853 2833 7676
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