Enthusiasm for bears has grown in the country since two cubs were born at a local theme park
With thousands… always filled the airport in Hong Kong today Monday. About 2,500 panda sculptures were displayed at the opening of the exhibition titled “PANDA GO!”. It is the largest exhibition in the city. The sculptures are set to go on public display on the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui, a popular shopping area, this weekend and are expected to go on display at three more locations later this month.
Enthusiasm for bears has grown in the country since two cubs were born at a local theme park.
One designated spot where they will be exhibited is Ocean Park, home to the baby twins, their parents and two other pandas donated by Beijing this year.
Hong Kong aims to boost its economy in this way as the Chinese financial hub works to regain its place as one of Asia’s top tourist destinations.
Everything is considered the unofficial national mascot of China. The program to borrow pandas from zoos in other countries has long been seen as a diplomatic tool used by Beijing.
Representatives of Hong Kong’s tourism industry are optimistic about the potential impact of housing the six pandas, hoping to increase visitor numbers, even though caring for pandas in captivity is expensive. Officials have encouraged businesses to take advantage of the bears’ popularity and take advantage of opportunities in what some lawmakers have called the “panda economy.”
The exhibition organizer has also invited some celebrities, including musician Pharrell Williams, to create new original designs with pandas where most of them will be auctioned off online for charity with the proceeds going to Ocean Park.
In a separate event the new pair of pandas who arrived as a gift in Beijing last September, An An and Ke Ke, were seen relaxing in their new home in Ocean Park. An enjoyed eating bamboo in front of the cameras and Ke Ke climbed a facility. The public will be able to meet them next Sunday.
The twins who were born last August made their mother Ying Ying the oldest ever mum in the world.
Ying Ying and the baby pandas’ father, Le Le, are the second pair of pandas to be donated by Beijing to Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Source :Skai
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