Zhen Sheng

Basic Profile

Zhen Sheng (Chinese: 震生, nicknamed Kuan Kuan/宽宽 and 六边形战士/Hexagonal Warrior), studbook number 1092, is a female giant panda born on August 3, 2017 at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas (CCRCGP) Wolong Shenshuping Base. Her mother is Jin Xin (锦心, studbook 672) and her twin brother is Qian Bao (倩宝).

The Hexagonal Face

Zhen Sheng’s most distinctive feature is her hexagonal face shape — round but with defined angles, giving her a unique geometry among pandas. Fans coined the nickname “Hexagonal Warrior” (六边形战士), a term borrowed from table tennis to describe a player with no weaknesses. In Zhen Sheng’s case, it applies to her face shape, her versatile skill set, and her indomitable personality.

Life Journey

Yancheng (2020–present)

On August 5, 2020, Zhen Sheng and male panda Yun Er (云儿) were transferred to the Yancheng Dafeng Port Zoo in Jiangsu Province, where they continue to live as a mismatched but beloved pair.

Personality: The Destroyer

Zhen Sheng is, by all accounts, a force of nature. She has an insatiable appetite for destruction — enrichment toys don’t last a day with her. She dismantles, shreds, and re-arranges anything keepers put in her enclosure. Her keepers describe her as “a girl who loves to demolish things and climb trees.”

She is a panda athlete capable of:

• Push-ups — performed with perfect form on her front paws
• Handstand walking — walking on her front legs with back legs in the air
• Side leg raises — holding poses that would challenge a ballet dancer
• “Meditation” — sitting motionless on tree branches in a pose mimicking deep contemplation

The Viral “Meditation” Photo (May 2023)

In May 2023, a photograph of Zhen Sheng circulated widely on Chinese social media. In the image, she sits perfectly upright on a thick tree branch, her back straight, her paws resting on her knees, her gaze fixed on the middle distance. The pose was so eerily human that it was shared as a “panda meditation” meme. The zoo’s keepers confirmed she was not, in fact, meditating — she was simply resting in a position she finds comfortable — but the image cemented her reputation as the philosopher-athlete of the panda world.

The Cola Incident (April 2023)

In April 2023, a zoo visitor tossed a bottle of cola into Zhen Sheng’s enclosure. Ever curious, Zhen Sheng picked it up and bit down — hard enough to puncture the plastic. The bottle erupted, spraying cola everywhere. Startled, she dropped it and retreated. The zoo quickly confirmed that she did not ingest any cola, and the incident prompted renewed calls for stricter visitor behavior enforcement.

Roommates with Yun Er

Zhen Sheng shares her space with Yun Er (云儿), and the two form a classic odd couple:

• Zhen Sheng: hyperactive, destructive, always climbing
• Yun Er: food-focused, laid-back, known as the “吃货” (foodie)

On November 8, 2023, the zoo swapped their living spaces as an environmental enrichment measure. Zhen Sheng showed immediate curiosity, exploring every corner of her new enclosure. In June 2024, fresh bamboo shoots were air-shipped to the zoo and scattered across her outdoor area, where she located them by scent and fished them from her pool.