If you are craving panda-related pleasure, Everland is ready to pander to your tastes. On Jan. 20 a new panda-centric attraction called Bao Haus was opened.
Bao Haus, a play on words of the German architectural school Bauhaus, is a gallery where visitors can admire panda pictures, panda-related memorabilia, and write letters to the Bao family that now includes mother Ai Bao, father Le Bao, big sister Fu Bao, and the new twins Lui Bao and Hui Bao.
A new attraction
Coming soon after the good news that twin panda cubs Lui Bao and Hui Bao have been welcomed into the world by their fans at Everland’s Panda World enclosure, Everland opened a special indoor space filled with panda-related images and items. This is called Bao Haus.
On Jan. 20 Bao Haus opened to receive its first visitors. Bao Haus is obviously named after the Bao Family of 5 pandas who inhabit Everland’s Panda World, and it is located in Everland’s Global Fair. It will showcase a variety of exhibitions and visitor experiences for panda fans throughout winter.
The 12-meter-high inflatable Giant Bao that sits near Everland’s entrance marks the beginning of a 200-meter-long Panda Road that leads visitors to the Bao Haus and onto Panda World, where people can see the real Bao family strolling, climbing, or munching on bamboo shoots.
What’s inside Bao Haus? Let’s find out.
Panda-monium
Inside the Bao Haus gallery there is a plethora of panda things to see. Photos and videos show the growth of the Bao Family, from when zookeeper Kang Cheol-won first met Ai Bao and Le Bao, through the birth of Fu Bao, and to the recent arrival of Lui Bao and Hui Bao.
Visitors can see the incubators where Fu Bao stayed as a young cub, zookeepers’ desks and uniforms, toys especially made for Fu Bao, as well as how the nutritious cornbread called wotou is made, and learn about the daily routine of the human keepers who work hard to take care of the five pandas.
On one wall of the gallery there hang 60 different artworks by visitors to Panda World who have drawn pictures by hand or made panda-themed crafts, participating in the Bao Family Fan Art Contest. There are also works of art by celebrities such as Jeon Hyun-moo (also known as Musquiat), Seulgi of Red Velevet, and NCT’s Ten, all keen Fu Bao fans.
Photographer Ryu Jung-hoon has taken still images of the panda family that come vividly to live on a video that is projected on a giant scale.
Posing with pandas
In the middle of Bao Haus stands a large Bao Family sculpture showing all five members of the family gathered together. Here is a great place to take a commemorative photo while posing with this lifelike group of pandas. Visitors can also touch the fur of the panda statue, which feels surprisingly realistic.
In the holographic photo zone, people can play the role of zookeepers and recreate a popular YouTube video moment when Fu Bao, then still a cute little panda cub, clutched the boot of one of her zookeepers. And there is also a place where people can write letters to Fu Bao and the rest of the Bao Family.
There are even more things to see and do inside Bao Haus, so much so that groups of up to 40 visitors each time will be hard pressed to do and see everything in their allotted 15 minutes before they go back outside onto Panda Road.
Explaining the reason for the gallery, a spokesperson from Everland said, “We have created Bao House to help park visitors make lasting memories of the Bao panda family, and also to thank the fans who love and cherish the Bao family, both the pandas and their keepers.” Panda fans can find more information on the Everland website.
