Hong Kong launches panda sculpture tour amid tourism drive

More than 2,000 exhibits will go on show at the weekend in honour of bears donated to Hong Kong by Beijing.

Thousands of giant panda sculptures will greet residents and tourists in Hong Kong, where enthusiasm for the bears has grown since two cubs were born in a local theme park.

The 2,500 exhibits were showcased in a launch ceremony of PANDA GO! FEST HK, the city’s largest panda-themed exhibition, at Hong Kong’s airport.

They will be publicly displayed at the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui, a popular shopping district, this coming weekend before setting their footprint at three other locations this month.

Hong Kong Panda Sculptures — The Panda Go! event takes place in Hong Kong as the city looks to recapture tourism (AP)

The design of six of the sculptures, made of recycled rubber barrels and resins among other materials, was inspired by these bears.

The displays reflect Hong Kong’s use of pandas to boost its economy as the Chinese financial hub works to regain its position as one of Asia’s top tourism destinations.

An An makes his debut appearance to media in Ocean Park during a preview event — An An is one of the donated bears (AP)

Hong Kong’s tourism industry representatives are upbeat about the potential impact of housing six pandas, hoping to boost visitor numbers even though caring for pandas in captivity is expensive.

Officials have encouraged businesses to capitalize on the popularity of the bears to seize opportunities in what some lawmakers have dubbed the “panda economy”.

A staff member carries one of the 2500 panda sculptures displayed at the Hong Kong International Airport — The bears are seen as an international symbol of China and also a significant example of Beijing’s ‘soft power’ (AP)

In a separate media preview event on Monday, the new pair of pandas donated by Beijing, An An and Ke Ke, who arrived in September, appeared relaxed in their new home at Ocean Park. An An enjoyed eating bamboo in front of the cameras and Ke Ke climbed on an installation. They are set to meet the public on Sunday.

The twin cubs – whose birth in August made their mother Ying Ying the world’s oldest first-time panda mother – may meet visitors as early as February.

Ke Ke enjoys some bamboo — Ke Ke has made her debut appearance to media in Ocean Park (AP)

The first pair were An An and Jia Jia who arrived in 1999. Jia Jia, who died aged 38 in 2016, is the world’s oldest-ever panda to have lived in captivity.

The average lifespan for a panda in the wild is 14 to 20 years, while in captivity it is up to 30 years, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.