Hong Kong launches panda sculpture tour as the city hopes the bear craze
boosts tourism
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[December 02, 2024] By
KANIS LEUNG
HONG KONG (AP) — Thousands of giant panda sculptures will greet
residents and tourists starting Saturday in Hong Kong, where enthusiasm
for the bears has grown since two cubs were born in a local theme park.
The 2,500 exhibits were showcased in a launch ceremony of PANDA GO! FEST
HK, the city's largest panda-themed exhibition, at Hong Kong's airport
on Monday. They will be publicly displayed at the Avenue of Stars in
Tsim Sha Tsui, a popular shopping district, this weekend before setting
their footprint at three other locations this month.
One designated spot is Ocean Park, home to the twin cubs, their parents
and two other pandas gifted by Beijing this year. The design of six of
the sculptures, made of recycled rubber barrels and resins among other
materials, was inspired by these bears.
The cubs — whose birth in August made their mother Ying Ying the world’s
oldest first-time panda mom — may meet visitors as early as February.
In a separate media preview event on Monday, the new pair of
Beijing-gifted pandas, An An and Ke Ke, who arrived in September,
appeared relaxed in their new home at Ocean Park. An An enjoyed eating
bamboo in front of the cameras and Ke Ke climbed on an installation.
They are set to meet the public on Sunday.
The displays reflect Hong Kong’s use of pandas to boost its economy as
the Chinese financial hub works to regain its position as one of Asia’s
top tourism destinations.
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Part of 2500 panda sculptures are displayed at the Hong Kong
International Airport during a welcome ceremony of the panda-themed
exhibition "Panda Go!" in Hong Kong, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP
Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Pandas are considered China’s
unofficial national mascot. The country’s giant panda loan program
with overseas zoos has long been seen as a tool of Beijing’s
soft-power diplomacy.
Hong Kong's tourism industry representatives are upbeat about the
potential impact of housing six pandas, hoping to boost visitor
numbers even though caring for pandas in captivity is expensive.
Officials have encouraged businesses to capitalize on the popularity
of the bears to seize opportunities in what some lawmakers have
dubbed the “panda economy."
The organizer of the exhibitions also invited some renowned figures,
including musician Pharrell Williams, to create special-edition
panda designs. Most of these special sculptures will be auctioned
online for charity and the proceeds will be donated to Ocean Park to
support giant panda conversation efforts.
Ying Ying and the twin cubs' father, Le Le, are the second pair of
pandas gifted by Beijing to Hong Kong since the former British
colony returned to China’s rule in 1997.
The first pair were An An and Jia Jia who arrived in 1999. Jia Jia,
who died at 38 in 2016, is the world’s oldest-ever panda to have
lived in captivity.
The average lifespan for a panda in the wild is 14 to 20 years,
while in captivity it’s up to 30 years, according to the World Wide
Fund for Nature.
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