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China is more in love with its pandas than ever. That’s complicated matters for Beijing

Chengdu, China CNN —

Every morning at 7:30 a.m. sharp, a race begins on the outskirts of Chengdu, a sprawling Chinese metropolis known for its spicy hotpot, old tea houses and the country’s most beloved animal – giant pandas.

From the gates of the famed Chengdu Panda Base, fans run to the leafy “villa” of its celebrity resident: Hua Hua, China’s most popular panda. Among them is A’Qiu, who rents an apartment nearby and shares his bedroom with dozens of stuffed black and white teddy bears.

The 32-year-old bikes to the panda base every morning to see Hua Hua and film the celebrity bear for his 10,000 followers on Douyin, TikTok’s sister app. In the summer, he gets up as early as 3 a.m. to be at the front of the line. “Just seeing her face makes me feel incredibly happy,” he said.

Rare, fluffy and irresistibly cute, pandas are adored across the globe. Yet Hua Hua’s star power is something else entirely. The 4-year-old is so popular that only 30 people are allowed to admire her for a mere three minutes each before being ushered out by security guards. On a busy weekend or holiday, tens of thousands of visitors from across China spend more than two hours in line just to catch a glimpse of her.

In Chengdu, Hua Hua’s face is everywhere – in souvenir shops, cafes, post offices and on billboards. She also enjoys a massive following on Chinese social media, where her videos have racked up billions of views.

Hua Hua’s unprecedented popularity epitomizes a new wave of “pandamonium” that is sweeping across China, following a decades-long government effort to transform the giant panda from a little-known animal into a cultural icon, a national symbol and a potent tool of diplomacy.

But the success of the pandas’ rebranding has

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