Hong Kong to display 2,500 panda sculptures to capitalize on local bear craze
HONG KONG– Thousands of giant panda sculptures will greet locals and tourists from Saturday in Hong Kong, where enthusiasm for the bears has been growing ever since. two cubs were born at a local theme park.
The 2,500 exhibits were presented during a PANDA GO! launch ceremony. FEST HK, the city’s largest panda-themed exhibition, was held at Hong Kong Airport on Monday. They will be publicly displayed on the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui, a popular shopping district, this weekend before putting their mark on three other locations this month.
One of the designated locations is Ocean Park, where the twins, their parents and two other pandas offered by Beijing This year. The design of six of the sculptures, made from 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 mum panda – could encounter visitors as early as February.
At another media preview event on Monday, Beijing’s new gifted pandas, An An and Ke Ke, who arrived in September, appeared relaxed in their new home in Ocean Park. An An liked to eat bamboo in front of the cameras and Ke Ke climbed onto an installation. They are expected to meet the public on Sunday.
The exhibits reflect Hong Kong’s use of pandas to boost its economy as the Chinese financial hub strives to regain its position among Asia’s top tourist destinations.
Pandas are considered China’s unofficial national mascot. The national program of lending giant pandas to foreign zoos has long been seen as a tool of the Beijing government. soft power diplomacy.
Representatives of Hong Kong’s tourism industry are optimistic about the potential impact of housing six pandas, hoping to increase visitor numbers even if caring for pandas in captivity is expensive. Officials have encouraged businesses to capitalize on the bears’ popularity to seize opportunities in what some lawmakers have dubbed the “panda economy.”
The exhibition organizer also invited renowned figures, including musician Pharrell Williams, to create special edition panda models. Many of these special sculptures will be auctioned online for charity with proceeds donated to Ocean Park to support giant panda conversation efforts.
Ying Ying and the twins’ father, Le Le, are the second pair of pandas donated by Beijing to Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
The first couple was An An and Jia Jia, who arrived in 1999. Jia Jia, who died at age 38 in 2016, is the oldest panda in the world to have lived in captivity.
The average lifespan of a panda in the wild is 14 to 20 years, while in captivity it can reach 30 years, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
