"Olympic pandas" kick off new life in Beijing
By Wang Yi
Chinadaily.com.cn Staff Writer
Updated: 2008-06-05 15:19
Two-year-old male panda Lang Lang has a nickname of “playboy” because he loves kissing his pals and people. But he “kissed his appetite goodbye” when the earthquake hit Lang Lang’s hometown -- China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center, near the epicenter in Wenchuan county, on May 12.
Lang Lang and 7 other “Olympic pandas” made the debut in their new home at the Beijing Zoo on Thursday morning and instantly aroused visitors’ great affection. When Lang Lang stepped out of the earthquake aftermath and chases other pandas for a kiss, the visitors burst into laughs.
Lang Lang and his peers were nominated by Internet users to meet visitors in the run up to the Games. Since their natural habitat were devastated by the earthquake, they were flown to Beijing via Chengdu on May 24 ahead of schedule.
A feeder leads pandas at the enclosure in the Beijing Zoo on June 5, 2008. [Wang Yi/ Chinadaily.com.cn]
Jia Yi, a four-year-old girl came to the zoo early in the morning and waited in the queue for 3 hours to see Lang Lang and his pals. “They are very cute, just like babies. I have never seen so many pandas playing together.” She said, “I want to feed them cherries. When I go back home, I will call them”.
An official from Beijing Zoo said that pandas playing together is a rare scene. Adult pandas prefer a solitary existence. “That partly explains why these ‘Olympic pandas’ are so attractive to visitors,” he said.
These cubs were expected to attract 6 million tourists during their six-month show in the capital. The new home in Beijing offers a good place for them to recover from the trauma of the deadly earthquake. Bamboo woods, a small pond, grassland and bright paintings welcomed the pandas to their new home.
Zhang Jingguo, deputy head of the Beijing Zoo, said it took two months and 4.5 million yuan ($648,000) to build the glass-walled compound.
"Each glass wall is thick enough to effectively block any noise or heat that could upset the pandas," Zhang said.
