On Sunday, the ultimate day the general public may see big panda Xiang Xiang, 1000’s of Japanese folks from all around the nation crowded on the zoo for one final have a look at the five-year-old beloved panda.
TOKYO, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) — With cherry blossoms simply unfolding their fragile pinky-white leaves within the early spring breeze in Tokyo, the beloved Japan-born big panda Xiang Xiang on Tuesday launched into her journey again to China.
Around 7:10 a.m. native time on Tuesday morning, a white truck carrying the panda slowly drove out of Ueno Zoological Gardens, as many Japanese folks waved goodbye alongside the sidewalk exterior the gates of the zoo.
Upon her return, Xiang Xiang can be taken to Bifengxia Giant Panda Base, a large panda analysis and breeding facility within the metropolis of Ya’an, in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, which is called the hometown of big pandas.
NATIONWIDE PANDA STAR
A complete of 13 Chinese big pandas, together with Xiang Xiang, now stay in Japan, making it the nation with the most important variety of pandas abroad.
In the eyes of Japanese folks, Ueno Zoo is the place to begin of Japan’s affection for big pandas, because it witnessed the primary pair of pandas given to Japan, Kang Kang and Lan Lan, 50 years in the past.
Xiang Xiang, a feminine panda born right here on June 12, 2017, was the primary panda naturally born and raised on the zoo within the almost three many years since You You, born in 1988.
After her start created a sensation in Japan, from her identify, and public debut, to her birthdays, Xiang Xiang has at all times been a trending matter on native media.
The identify Xiang Xiang was chosen from greater than 320,000 recommendations that folks despatched to the zoo three months after she was born. After she went on public show in December of the identical yr, Xiang Xiang quickly grew to become a preferred star.
“Let’s continue to be friends after you return to China!”
“Thank you for building bridges for the China-Japan friendship!” Such messages overwhelmed the zoo’s on-line message board and can be conveyed to the China Wildlife Conservation Association and China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.
On Sunday, the ultimate day the general public may see Xiang Xiang, 1000’s of Japanese folks from all around the nation crowded on the zoo for one final have a look at the five-year-old beloved panda.
A lottery for tickets to see the idol panda on the day was held prematurely since many guests had been anticipated, with the general odds of profitable a ticket surpassing 20:1 and the chances for the ultimate group of viewers reaching as excessive as 70:1, in accordance with the park’s officers.
The fortunate ones who received the tickets on Sunday, together with some aged folks on crutches and {couples} holding infants, had been lining as much as wait for his or her flip to say goodbye to Xiang Xiang of their due time slots.
Natsuki Mizuguchi, a graphic designer in her 30s, carrying a self-designed hoodie utilizing images of Xiang Xiang’s head that she had taken, was among the many final group of viewers to satisfy with the panda on Sunday.
“Xiang Xiang is pretty and vivacious compared to the other pandas,” Mizuguchi informed Xinhua, including that she hoped Xiang Xiang may even acquire reputation after she returns to China and proceed to be a panda star.
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE
In the panda home, every group of tourists was given solely two minutes to bid farewell to Xiang Xiang, as she was scoffing at bamboo sticks with carefree abandon. Viewers held up their cell phones and cameras, making an attempt to seize each valuable final second, and because the workers urged them to maneuver on, they continued to look again fondly, some even shedding tears.
Mizuki Wada, a “Xiang Xiang fan” from Saitama Prefecture, can not rely the variety of visits she has made to the panda home since Xiang Xiang’s first public look. “I would come here every weekend and on days when I’m not working, so I think I’ve been here hundreds of times,” she informed Xinhua, whereas exhibiting the most recent images she had snapped on Sunday.
When requested about her parting phrases for the panda, Wada bowed her head in silence, then seemed up, with tears streaming down her face. “Thank you for being born in Ueno, and for bringing smiles and heartwarming moments to all panda lovers, and to all Japanese people.”
“I hope that Xiang Xiang will become a master parent like her own mother after she returns to China, as long as she stays healthy and happy,” she added.
“I would like to say thank you to Xiang Xiang who was supposed to be returned to China at the age of two. She has been living in Japan for more than five years, showing her loveliness to us panda fans for so much longer,” mentioned a feminine customer surnamed Miura, who did not win a lottery slot however got here anyway to say goodbye to Xiang Xiang carrying a panda jacket.
SEE YOU IN CHINA
Not removed from Ueno Zoo, on the second flooring of a Japanese Matsuzakaya division retailer, a photograph exhibition on Xiang Xiang is being held, that includes 920 images of the panda taken by Takahiro Takauji, a panda photographer who runs the well-known weblog “Mainichi Panda.”
The images, chosen from over 100,000 footage taken by Takauji, chronicles the 920 days he spent with Xiang Xiang from December 2017 to November 2022.
Takauji was additionally noticed close to the panda home on Sunday. However, the person was sure it was not the final likelihood for him to take footage of the panda. “I will definitely go to China to see Xiang Xiang in the future,” he informed Xinhua.
Xiang Xiang was born to Shin Shin (feminine) and Ri Ri (male), two big pandas on mortgage from China, the place the possession over the cubs they gave start to belongs.
Now 5 years and eight months previous, the panda has reached her breeding maturity. She was initially scheduled to journey again to China by the top of December 2020, however her return was postponed a number of instances because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Considering the future of Xiang Xiang and the giant pandas as a species, it would be amazing if she found a good mate and bred in China,” mentioned Yutaka Fukuda, director of Ueno Zoo, although admitting his feeling of loss.
Toshimitsu Doi, head of the Panda Protection Institute of Japan, additionally believed it’s good for Xiang Xiang to return to China, the place she will discover a companion amongst a large number of male pandas, and fulfill her mission as a wild animal to breed.
At Ueno Zoo, a number of panda lovers informed Xinhua that they dreamed of visiting Xiang Xiang in China after she makes her public debut there.
As the night time fell, a gaggle of “Xiang Xiang fans” had been nonetheless reluctant to depart the zoo on Sunday. Each holding a Xiang Xiang doll of their arms, they shouted their goodbyes in Chinese in the direction of the path of the beloved panda: “See you, Xiang Xiang! We will visit you in China!”