熊猫
panda
HSK level
- Pinyin
- xióngmāo
- Part of speech
- noun
- Level
- HSK 3
- Strokes
- 25
- Register
- neutral
- Measure word
- 只 / 头
- In episodes
- 1
Stroke order for 熊猫
熊猫 is written with 25 strokes (熊: 14, 猫: 11). The animation replays automatically.
What does 熊猫 mean?
熊猫 (xióngmāo) is the Chinese word for panda, specifically the giant panda (大熊猫 dà xióngmāo), China's national symbol and most famous animal.
The compound literally reads 'bear cat' (熊 'bear' + 猫 'cat'), reflecting its bear-like body and cat-like face. The red panda is 小熊猫 (xiǎo xióngmāo). Two cultural notes English speakers should know.
First, the giant panda is treated as a national treasure (国宝 guóbǎo) and appears constantly in zoos, conservation news, and diplomacy ('panda diplomacy'). Second, in Taiwan and some older texts the order is sometimes reversed as 貓熊 (māoxióng); mainland standard is 熊猫. The word is everyday and neutral — children learn it early and adults use it without any change in register.
Character by character
Memory hook: 熊 (bear) + 猫 (cat) = a bear with a cat's face — that's a panda.
Hear 熊猫 in real episodes
熊猫 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
中国有两只大熊猫，要去美国。
China has two giant pandas that are going to America.
Xi's First Washington Visit in 11 Years: Pageantry, a Pair of Pandas and a Two-Month Trade Truce
Example sentences
熊猫很可爱。
Xióngmāo hěn kě'ài.
Pandas are very cute.
spoken
我们去动物园看熊猫吧。
Wǒmen qù dòngwùyuán kàn xióngmāo ba.
Let's go to the zoo to see the pandas.
spoken
熊猫喜欢吃竹子。
Xióngmāo xǐhuān chī zhúzi.
Pandas like to eat bamboo.
neutral
中国有很多熊猫。
Zhōngguó yǒu hěn duō xióngmāo.
China has many pandas.
neutral
这只小熊猫只有一岁。
Zhè zhī xiǎo xióngmāo zhǐ yǒu yí suì.
This little panda is only one year old.
neutral
Common phrases with 熊猫
Synonyms
大熊猫 is the formal scientific name for the giant panda. In everyday speech 熊猫 alone almost always means the giant panda; 大熊猫 is preferred in zoos, documentaries, and written news.
Don't confuse 熊猫 with
猫熊 is the Taiwan-standard order of the same word. Both refer to the panda; mainland speakers will understand but use 熊猫.
熊 alone means 'bear' (brown bear, polar bear, etc.). 熊猫 is specifically the panda. Saying 熊 in a zoo doesn't mean panda.
FAQ
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 熊猫 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
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