Celebration ceremony held for giant pandas in Hainan

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the arrival of the giant pandas Gonggong and Shunshun on Saturday, the Hainan Tropical Wildlife Park and Botanical Garden, the first national large tropical wildlife and botanical-themed garden in Haikou, South China's Hainan province, prepared toys, bamboo shoots, and fruits for the pandas, while holding a variety of science popularization activities and interactive games, attracting a lot of visitors.

At the celebration event, citizens and tourists offered their wishes for the 5th anniversary of the pandas' arrival on the island with written blessing cards, and the pandas' fans from across the world including China, Belgium, Japan, and New Zealand also sent their sincere wishes in video clips.

Ma Xuefeng, director of the Hainan Tropical Wildlife Park and Botanical Garden, said the garden and the two giant pandas have established an indispensable emotional bond.

"In the future, we'll continue to do a good job in the breeding and management service for Gonggong and Shunshun, and the creation and innovation of tropical panda intellectual property," he said.

Shang Xiao, chairman of the Hainan Tropical Wildlife Park and Botanical Garden, thanked China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda for its professional guidance and strong support over the last five years.

Gonggong, born on Aug 18, 2013, and Shunshun, born a few days later on Aug 27, at the Sichuan Ya'an Bifengxia base of the China Conservation and Research Center, were relocated to the garden in Haikou on Nov 10, 2018. They started to meet visitors on Nov 25 that year, making up for the absence of giant pandas on the tropical island.