“‘Xiang Xiang’, I love you forever and ever!” On the morning of the 9th, a panda woodcarver Akutsuyu, dressed in panda pattern attire, came to the Chinese Embassy in Japan in the rain, wrote the message to the panda “Xiang Xiang”.
Giant panda “Xiang Xiang” was born in June 2017 in Japan’s Ueno Zoo, and in February 2023, ” Xiang Xiang” returned to China’s Sichuan province after living in Japan for more than five years.
Co-organized by the China Association for Public Diplomacy, the Chinese Embassy in Japan and the Surfing News, the giant panda ” Xiang Xiang” online connection and fan sharing was held in Tokyo on the 9th. Wu Jianghao, Chinese Ambassador to Japan, Wu Hailong, President of China Association of Public Diplomacy, Renji Nakamura, Deputy Governor of Tokyo, and about 200 panda fans from all over Japan participated in the event, watching online the life of “Xiang Xiang” at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas Bifengxia Base in Ya’an and talking with the keeper to understand “Xiangxiang” in Ya’an base recent situation.
At the event, one of the namesakes of “Xiang Xiang”, Tomoka Takahata, told reporters that when she was a child living in China, her housekeeping aunts used to call her “Xiang Xiang”. Because of this, in 2017, the Ueno Zoo for the newborn giant panda cub for the whole of Japan to collect names, Takahata Tomohika was the first to submit “Xiang Xiang”. After “Xiang Xiang” was selected, Tomoka Takahata purchased an annual pass to the Ueno Zoo and joined giant panda fans.
Last November, “Daily Panda” blogger and panda photographer Takashi Takahata embarked on a journey to China for the first time because of “Xiang Xiang”, and not only realized his long-cherished wish of reunion with “Xiang Xiang”, but also witnessed the development and change of China. He said in an interview with reporters at the scene of the event: “‘Xiang Xiang’ has opened the curtain on the stage in China, and I’m looking forward to its future.” In the “Xiang Xiang” message wall, there are a lot of Japanese fans wrote “must go to see you when I have time”. The reporter learned from the China Tourism Office in Tokyo that many Japanese travel agencies have recently launched panda sightseeing tours to China, and attracted many people for registration.
