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Denise Tsang

Fan Chen

Edith Lin

Oscar Liu

Hong Kong dives into the world of giant pandas on Saturday, with officials revealing the new names of a pair of bears Beijing gifted to the city along with an exhibition of 2,500 sculptures in Tsim Sha Tsui.
A ceremony to introduce the giant pandas to the public and attended by top mainland Chinese and local officials, including city leader John Lee Ka-chiu, was held on Saturday afternoon.
The two Beijing-gifted bears residing at Ocean Park in the Southern district are due to meet the public on Sunday for the first time.
Following a naming competition, An An and Ke Ke, both five years old, the equivalent of 15 human years, kept their names.
The pandas arrived in September and joined female Ying Ying and male Le Le, who became parents of newborn twins “Elder Sister” and “Younger Brother” in August.
The public also saw 2,500 giant panda sculptures lining up on the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui, as one of four rounds of exhibitions in the city in December.
The exhibitions are organised by Hong Kong design studio AllRightsReserved.
Stay tuned for more updates as the Post reports on the events.
An An and Ke Ke peckish for bamboo during VIPs visit
The two bears enjoy the comforts of home even as they are greeted by a stream of VIPs.
While the pair are housed under one roof, they live in a solitary den with a short wall separating them in between.
The pair continue eating bamboo shoots as officials walk past. An An rests on a wooden rack, while Ke Ke sits on an armchair-shaped tree trunk.
The Post learns that the pair normally have about four to five meals a day.
The pair ate with gusto on Saturday as their next meal was delayed by about an hour as a result of the visiting VIPs.

Visitors approve keeping bears’ names the same
Visitor Ryan Yeung, 30, says he felt it was a good idea to keep the pandas’ names the same, since people were already familiar with them.
“People have got used to the names. There’s no need to change them,” Yeung said, adding that he likes that the Chinese pronunciation of combined names is similar to the word “encore”
Serena Ho Ding-yan, age nine, says she likes both names and hopes to visit the pandas someday soon.
“Ke Ke sounds like ‘lovely’ [in Chinese], while An An means ‘safe and sound’.”
Ocean Park considers offering ‘time cards’ for Sunday’s panda visits
Ocean Park chairman Paulo Pong Kin-yee says the theme park expects a large crowd will visit the pandas on Sunday, with the operators considering creating time slots for visitors.
“We are planning to have time cards if the crowd is significant,” he says.
According to the park’s website, ticket admission times are determined by distribution order, meaning visitors cannot pick their time slot.
Pong says there is no need for the public to rush to see the pandas, as they will be able to meet all the bears, including the cubs, after a few months.
He also says the judging panel was unanimously fond of retaining An An and Ke Ke’s names given their positive meanings. He also notes the pandas have got used to the names.

Panda art contest winners get their prizes
The winners of a drawing competition are each awarded a panda toy, among other prizes, for their artworks depicting the two bears touring around the city.
One winning entry shows one of the pandas atop a Star Ferry crossing Victoria Harbour as the other bear stands in Central. Another drawing has them eating local street food and watching the trams go by.
In another image, the pandas are dressed as pilots and fly a plane over Victoria Harbour, passing tourist spots such as Wan Chai’s Golden Bauhinia Square.
Hong Kong to keep An An and Ke Ke as pandas’ names
At the “Giant Panda Greeting Ceremony”, it is announced that the Beijing-gifted bears will keep their original names – An An and Ke Ke.
“An An” means a peaceful and stable future for Hong Kong, while “Ke Ke” means Hong Kong can have indefinite possibilities in the future.
A combination of the two names “An Ke”, pronounced in Chinese carries the meaning of “encore”, suggesting good things will come to Hong Kong one after another.
The names were selected by a judging panel from more than 22,600 entries submitted to a citywide competition that launched in October.
Saturday also marked the city leader’s birthday. Lee, who turns 67, is accompanied by his wife Janet Lam Lai-sim for the event.
Lam has also created six ceramic plates and offered them to the park as gifts.
The plates show An An and Ke Ke visiting local landmarks such as Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai, The Peak, the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, the Government House in Central, and the Legislative Council Complex in Tamar and the bears’ homes at the park.
Pandas to act as Hong Kong tourism ambassadors
Park chairman Pong says the two bears will join their four Hong Kong peers in becoming tourism ambassadors.

Pandas give Hong Kong ‘emotional bond’ to mainland: official
Zhou Ji, executive deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, says the central government has gifted three pairs of giant pandas to Hong Kong over the years, providing fond memories to residents.
“They have become Hong Kong’s emotional bond with the mother country. The central government’s decision to gift the new pair of giant pandas bestows blessings to Hongkongers and shows the central government’s confidence and support in Hong Kong,” he says.
He also invites people from all over the world to visit the giant pandas in Hong Kong and experience the city’s vibrancy.
Li Yunqing, deputy head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, also hopes there will be more collaboration between Hong Kong and the mainland in terms of animal and environmental conservation efforts.
Three meanings behind giant pandas
The ceremony includes mainland and local officials, such as Hong Kong liaison office director Zheng Yanxiong and representatives from Sichuan province.
In his opening speech, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu expresses his gratitude to the central government for sending the city the two “lovable and energetic” giant pandas as a gift.
He pledges to grasp the opportunities provided by the pandas and unite all sectors.
“We will grasp all the opportunities on the giant pandas by creating many activities so that citizens and tourists will have unforgettable experiences,” he says.
Lee points out that the gifted animals have three meanings.
The first is that the bears are invaluable state assets and show how much Beijing cares for Hong Kong, he says.
By preserving the giant pandas in a captive environment, the population of the species will grow and help to tell good stories about Hong Kong, he says for the second point.
“The giant panda creates a frenzy in Hong Kong, which will help boost the panda economy,” he says for the third point.

Lifelike panda costume steals limelight at exhibit
A person dressed in the “Ferrari” of all giant panda costumes captures visitors’ attention and is surrounded by a crowd of people hoping to get a picture with the event’s mascot.
The performer creates a buzz among visitors, who eagerly wave back when he raises his paws to say hello.
Some visitors standing further away from the mascot can be heard asking if the mascot is the real deal, as others try to get a closer look.
Chong My, 54, a tourist from Malaysia, said she was thrilled to see such a huge panda mascot for the first time in her life.
“At first I thought it was real,” Chong says. “But I thought that’s impossible, and I was looking at it for a long time before I could tell.”
Holding a bunch of bamboo leaves, the mascot pats children’s heads and high-fives members of the crowd.
Maggie Tam Mo-yung, a 45-year-old cashier, calls the panda mascot cute.
“It’s most enjoyable to see it show up, jumping. Its fur looks so real,” she says.

Children want to take home panda status
Among the fans at Tsim Sha Tsui, four-year-old Titus Lee Pak-nan says he wishes he could take one of the statues as he poses for pictures with the event’s mascot.
“I love pandas, because they are so adorable,” Lee says. “I have a few panda toys and figures at home. I feel so happy seeing all these pandas today.”
Thousands turn up for pictures with panda statues
Just before noon, thousands of people pack the Avenue of Stars to take pictures with the panda statues lining the waterfront.
Visitors wait to get a picture with the closest sculptures, scrambling forward the moment a spot opens up to get a selfie with one of the statues.
The installation also catches the attention of some weekend joggers, stopping to get some pictures of the pandas.
Parents put their photography skills to use as children pull faces for pictures under a sunny sky, while other visitors squat down to get close to the statues.

Visitors descend on Avenue of Stars hour before panda installation opens
An hour before the exhibition’s opening at 11am, Kat Soriano, a 41-year-old Filipino artist from Manila, says she came to Tsim Sha Tsui specifically for Saturday’s event, a day before she leaves Hong Kong.
She describes the 2,500-statue exhibition as “massive cuteness, amazing sculptures, and great art”.
“I see so much creativity here,” she says. “I find [the pandas] very iconic to Chinese people.”
Fellow early bird Mina Leung says she spent nearly two hours travelling from her home in the New Territories to see the panda sculptures.
“I really adore pandas, so this is a must-go for me,” the 60-year-old says.
Leung says she is not only a fan of Hong Kong’s giant pandas, but those in Sichuan too, especially the bear Fu Bao.
Four-year-old Fu Bao returned to the mainland from South Korea in April, but was set to undergo a medical check-up after footage shared earlier this week showed the animal had been trembling.
“What happened to Fu Bao makes me really sad. Humans and animals can’t communicate, so I find it particularly valuable to have a close connection between humans and animals,” she says.
“I usually don’t buy any annual passes, but I just bought one to see the two giant pandas.”


Do visitors have to pay extra to get to meet An An and Ke Ke?
Visitors with an admission ticket to Ocean Park can collect a free ticket to enter the Hong Kong Jockey Club Sichuan Treasures on a first-come, first-served basis.
A ticket is for a single person and admission times are distributed in order, which means you cannot choose when to enter.
What toys do giant pandas play with?
Caretakers also design toys for giant pandas. For example, there are tree trunk-shaped climbing frames made of cement that can withstand their weight, with thick PVC pipes wrapped around the “branches” containing hidden treats.
“They must climb and solve how to extract treats from the pipes, although treats are not always there. This enrichment stimulates various psychological and physical aspects for the animals. Most importantly, we want to induce them to exhibit more of their own natural instincts,” the park’s head of zoological operations and conservation, Howard Chuk Hau-chung, says.

Carefree An An and feisty Ke Ke
Chuk says the two giant pandas had different personalities.
“We often say An An has a strong manly-man and somewhat laid-back attitude,” he says. The 130kg bear can be seen reclining on the slope in his enclosure in the den enjoying his bamboo.
In contrast, 100kg-Ke Ke shows a quiet demeanour by savouring her food with calmness, and she also reveals a feisty side that required caretakers’ patience.
“Sometimes, she may drop her food unexpectedly and run off, or even do somersaults. When she was trained to reach out her arms with the ‘target’ command, her response may not be as fast as An An’s. We allow her to take breaks,” Chuk says.
“As caregivers, we collaborate with the animals instead of focusing on what we want them to do. We work together to achieve tasks, whether it’s training or conducting body checks. It’s about mutual exploration and respect.”
New home of An An and Ke Ke
An An and Ke Ke have adapted well to the new home after leaving their birthplace in Chengdu, Sichuan in September.
“They are settling well into their separate dens,” Chuk says.


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Hong Kong’s pandas

Let’s call them… An An and Ke Ke! Hong Kong retains names of Beijing-gifted pandas

An An is preparing to meet the public on Sunday. Photo: Robert Ng 

Chief Executive John Lee and his wife visit the pandas on Saturday. Photo: Robert Ng

The winners of the drawing contest each receive a toy panda at the ceremony. Photo: Nora Tam

Zhou Ji, executive deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, speaks at the event. Photo: Nora Tam

The “PANDA GO! GUIDE” mascot makes an appearance at the Avenue of Stars, Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Dickson Lee

Some members of the crowd have said they struggled to tell if the mascot was a real bear or not. Photo: Dickson Lee

Visitors poses for pictures next to the giant panda sculptures that line the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Dickson Lee

An An is one of the pandas gifted to Hong Kong by Beijing this year. Photo: Eugene Lee

Panda Watch: Hong Kong’s twin cubs weigh 40 times more than at birth

Hong Kong’s panda cubs. Photo: Instagram/pandahk_official

‘‘Younger Brother” tips the scale at 5.5kg from 112 grams at birth. Photo: Instagram/pandahk_official

Japanese studio creates ‘Ferrari’ of panda costumes to help promote Hong Kong’s bears

The costume has wowed the public since it was unveiled at Hong Kong airport earlier this week and sells for US$180,000. Photo: Elson Li

Zeppet founder Junya Okabe showcases the panda costume. Photo: Fan Chen

The realistic costume will also be joined by 2,500 panda sculptures, which will be displayed across the city. Photo: Elson Li

Hong Kong pandas An An and Ke Ke meet the press ahead of Sunday’s public unveiling

An An meets members of the press on Monday morning. Photo: Eugene Lee

The number of visitors will be kept to 300 at a time to prevent overstimulating the bears, a staff member has said. Photo: Eugene Lee

A mascot for the “Panda Go! Fest HK” installation poses with the 2,500 statues at the city’s airport. Photo: Elson Li

News

Hong Kong

Hong Kong economy

City has also lined 2,500 giant panda sculptures along the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui to mark event


City has also lined 2,500 giant panda sculptures along the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui to mark event.


Ocean Park

Hong Kong tourism