According to the Japan Broadcasting Association TV, the female giant panda "Xiangxiang" living in Tokyo's Ueno Zoo will return to China on the 21st, and the 19th is the last day that Ueno Zoo is open to visit "Xiangxiang". A large number of Japanese people went to say goodbye to them, and some people could not help but cry, and it was difficult to hide their reluctance.
The Japanese people lined up in tears to say goodbye
According to information released by Ueno Zoo, from January 21, a pre-draw system will be used to visit "Koka", and up to 2,600 people will be selected every day, and the visit will end on February 19. Since each winning person can only stay in the venue for 1 to 2 minutes, you can see someone waving goodbye to "Xiangxiang" in tears when the time expires.
The winning "lucky winner" went to the Giant Panda House according to the reserved time slot to wait to say goodbye to "Xiangxiang".
Japan's Asahi Shimbun noticed that "Xiangxiang" sometimes lay on her back on a wooden bed, sometimes got up and yawned, and ate bamboo at the people, and its every movement attracted laughter and mobile phone photos.
Giant panda "Xiangxiang".
"Kaka" is so loved in Japan that many people feel reluctant to leave it. According to reports, many of the tourists who came to visit on the 19th said goodbye to "Xiangxiang" while crying during the average 2-minute tour time.
Some tourists leave with tears in their eyes.
According to CCTV news, the park said that due to the quarantine period of "Xiangxiang", the number of daily visitors in the past month was capped at 2,600. The visit on the 19th was only about 1 in 70 because of the large number of applicants. Despite this, many Japanese people who did not win the lottery came to the zoo that day. They said that even if they can't see "Xiangxiang", they hope to express their love and blessing for "Xiangxiang".
Image source: CCTV News
The Japanese tourist said, "I didn't see 'Xiangxiang' today, and I didn't win the lot, but even so, I wanted to feel the atmosphere here." 'Xiangxiang' is a very cute giant panda, I hope that Chinese friends will also love it, we will definitely go to China to see it. ”
"Signature girl" who captivates tourists
According to reports, in June 2017, father "Lili" and mother "Zhenzhen" gave birth to "Xiangxiang" through natural mating. In 2012, the parents also gave birth to a baby, but died 6 days later. Drawing on this lesson, the garden continued to guard Xiangxiang 24 hours a day for three months after the birth of "Xiangxiang".
Data map: Giant panda "Xiangxiang" in Japan.
In a report, Japan's Kyodo News Agency referred to "Xiangxiang" as "a 'signature girl' who is cute and cute and captivates tourists." In December 2017, "Xiangxiang" made its first public appearance, which was the first time in nearly 29 years that Ueno gave birth to a baby panda, and was loved by the local people.
On June 12, 2022, "Xiangxiang" celebrated its 5th birthday, and visitors had to wait 4 hours to meet "Xiangxiang".
On the 21st, return home!
Since Xiangxiang's parents are giant pandas loaned from China, the cubs they give birth to belong to China.
According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency, it was originally stipulated that "it will be returned when it is 24 months old," but many people want "Xiangxiang" to stay in Japan, so they decided to return it to China at the end of 2020. Since then, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the return deadline has been postponed several times.
On December 10, 2020, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing that the giant panda "Xiangxiang" of Japan's Ueno Zoo was originally planned to return to China at the end of this year, but due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, it may be difficult to return to China as originally planned. We fully understand the Japanese people's attachment to "Xiangxiang", and we are very grateful to the Japanese people, especially Ueno Zoo, for their careful and thoughtful care of "Xiangxiang". The cute giant panda has indeed brought a lot of joy to the Japanese people, especially the children, and has also become a friendly messenger between the two countries, making a unique contribution to promoting the friendly feelings between the Chinese and Japanese peoples.
According to reports, "Xiangxiang" will leave the zoo by truck on the morning of the 21st and fly to China with the keepers.
Comprehensive from China News Service, China News Network, CCTV News Client