1/8 | Hong Kong’s baby pandas finally have names: Jia Jia and De Hong Kong began a contest to appoint two giant panda puppies that will debut in the Ocean Park theme park.
– Leung Man Hei
Hong Kong – The first giant pandas born locally in Hong Kong have finally received names and presented as Jia and de de.
The names of the puppies, affectionately known as “older sister” and “little brother”, were announced on Tuesday at a ceremony in Ocean Park, the theme park that houses them with their parents and two other giant pandas that arrived from continental China last year.
The names were the winning suggestions of residents in a name contest that attracted more than 35,700 participations.
The Chinese character “Jia”, of the name of the female puppy “Jia Jia”, entails a message of support and presents a family element and an idea of good omen. The name embodies the prosperity of families and the nation and happiness of the people, the park said.
The Chinese “of” character, of the name of the male puppy, means being successful, transmitting the message that Hong Kong is successful in everything. It also has the same pronunciation as the Chinese character for virtue, suggesting that giant pandas have virtues appreciated by the Chinese people, according to the park.
The president of Ocean Park, Paulo Pong, said they followed the tradition of using the pronunciation in Mandarin for the English names of the Pandas. He said that “Jia” sounds like a word in the Cantonese term for older sister, while “De” sounds a bit like the cantoneous expression for little brother. The Cantonese is the mother tongue of many Hongkoneses.
“It’s a couple of very positive names,” he said. “We have to be a bit creative here with the names.”
The birth of the twins in August made his mother, Ying Ying, the oldest first -time Panda in the world. His popularity among residents, visitors and social networks increased the hopes of a tourist impulse in the city, where politicians promoted commercial opportunities such as the “Panda economy.”
The observers are attentive to whether to house six pandas helps the park to reactivate their business, especially since the care of the animals in captivity is expensive. Ocean Park recorded a deficit of $ 71.6 million of Hong Kong ($ 9.2 million) the last fiscal year.
The park registered a growth of almost 40% in the flow of visitors and an increase of 40% in general revenues during a five -day holiday that began on May 1 in Continental China, said Pong, who expects the growth impulse to continue during the summer, Halloween and Christmas seasons.
Pandas are considered the unofficial national pet of China. The country’s giant pandas loan program with zoos abroad has long been considered as a tool of Beijing’s diplomacy and influence.