HONG KONG — Pandas An An and Ke Ke, a gift from Beijing to Hong Kong, arrived in the Chinese territory on Thursday to much fanfare, two days after Finland said it would return its own pair over mounting debts.
Hong Kong officials welcomed the giant pandas at the city’s international airport with a red carpet on the tarmac and panda toys.
The Sichuan-born male and female will increase the total number of pandas to six, the highest ever in the financial hub.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said the pandas would soon receive new names through a public contest organized by the government.
An An and Ke Ke’s arrival comes just after resident giant panda Ying Ying gave birth to twin cubs ahead of her 19th birthday.
Persons:
Ke Ke, John Lee, Ying Ying, Xi Jinping, Jin Baobao, Roni Rekomaa, Ahtari, Risto Sivonen, Sivonen, ” Sivonen
Organizations:
HONG KONG —, Workers, Reuters, Nordic, Getty, Ahtari Zoo, Embassy
Locations:
HONG KONG, Beijing, Hong Kong, Finland, Sichuan, Guangdong Province, An, China, People’s Republic of China, Ahtari, AFP, Helsinki