Hong Kong's panda cubs naming contest draws over 35,700 entries from excited fans
A naming contest for Hong Kong's giant panda twin cubs drew more than 35,700 entries before the period for submissions closed earlier this month.
Ocean Park said that it was 'blown away' by the 'overwhelming' number of name suggestions received.
'Your care and excitement for these locally born panda cubs truly warmed our hearts,' the park said.
Results of the competition will be announced in the first half of this year, with winners notified in due course.
Ocean Park added the nicknames 'Elder Sister' and 'Younger Brother' would be kept as usual. The Mandarin pinyin of the selected Chinese names would be adopted as the English names of the twin cubs.
Ying Ying became the oldest panda mum in captivity when she gave birth to the cubs on August 15 last year. The journey to parenthood for Ying Ying and Le Le took more than 10 years, with multiple phantom pregnancies and miscarriages.
Visitors can see the twin cubs at the park's 'Giant Panda Adventure' attraction following their public debut last month.
Last year, authorities held another naming competition for two pandas gifted by Beijing, drawing more than 22,600 submissions.
Quiz time
How many entries were received in the naming contest?
When were the giant panda twin cubs born?
What are the nicknames given to the twin cubs?
Where can visitors see the panda twin cubs?
Ocean Park says competition results will be announced in the first half of this year. Photo: Eugene Lee
Suggested answers
More than 35,700
August 15, 2024
'Elder Sister' and 'Younger Brother'
at the 'Giant Panda Adventure' attraction in Ocean Park
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asia Times
2 days ago
- Asia Times
Eternal Queen of Asian Pop's last encore from beyond the grave
Several years ago, an employee at Universal Music came across a cassette tape in a Tokyo warehouse while sorting through archival materials. On it was a recording by the late Taiwanese pop star Teresa Teng that had never been released; the pop ballad, likely recorded in the mid-1980s while Teng was living and performing in Japan, was a collaboration between composer Takashi Miki and lyricist Toyohisa Araki. Now, to the delight of her millions of fans, the track titled 'Love Songs Are Best in the Foggy Night' will appear on an album set to be released on June 25, 2025. Teng died 30 years ago. Most Westerners know little about her life and her body of work. Yet the ballads of Teng, who could sing in Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese and Indonesian, continue to echo through karaoke rooms, on Spotify playlists, at tribute concerts and at family gatherings across Asia and beyond. I study how pop music has served as a tool of soft power, and I've spent the past several years researching Teng's music and its legacy. I've found that Teng's influence endures not just because of her voice, but also because her music transcends Asia's political fault lines. Born in 1953 in Yunlin, Taiwan, Teresa Teng grew up in one of the many villages that were built to house soldiers and their families who had fled mainland China in 1949 after the Communists claimed victory in the Chinese civil war. Her early exposure to traditional Chinese music and opera laid the foundation for her singing career. By age 6, she was taking voice lessons. She soon began winning local singing competitions. 'It wasn't adults who wanted me to sing,' Teng wrote in her memoir. 'I wanted to sing. As long as I could sing, I was happy.' At 14, Teng dropped out of high school to focus entirely on music, signing with the local label Yeu Jow Records. Soon thereafter, she released her first album, 'Fengyang Flower Drum.' In the 1970s, she toured and recorded across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Southeast Asia, becoming one of Asia's first truly transnational pop stars. Teng's career flourished in the late 1970s and 1980s. She released some of her most iconic tracks, such as her covers of Chinese singer Zhou Xuan's 1937 hit 'When Will You Return?' and Taiwanese singer Chen Fen-lan's 'The Moon Represents My Heart,' and toured widely across Asia, sparking what came to be known as 'Teresa Teng Fever.' In the early 1990s, Teng was forced to stop performing for health reasons. She died suddenly of an asthma attack on May 8, 1995, while on vacation in Chiang Mai, Thailand, at the age of 42. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Teng's story is that Teng Fever peaked in China. Teng was ethnically Chinese, with ancestral roots in China's Shandong province. But the political divide between China and Taiwan following the Chinese civil war had led to decades of hostility, with each side refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the other. During the late 1970s and 1980s, however, China began to relax its political control under Deng Xiaoping's Reform and Opening Up policy. This sweeping initiative shifted China toward a market-oriented economy, encouraged foreign trade and investment and cautiously reintroduced global cultural influences after decades of isolation. Pop music from other parts of the world began trickling in, including Teng's tender ballads. Her songs could be heard in coastal provinces such as Guangdong and Shanghai, inland cities such as Beijing and Tianjin, and even in remote regions such as Tibet. Shanghai's propaganda department wrote an internal memo in 1980 noting that her music had spread to the city's public parks, restaurants, nursing homes and wedding halls. Teng's immense popularity in China was no accident; it reflected a time in the country's history when its people were particularly eager for emotionally resonant art after decades of cultural propaganda and censorship. For a society that had been awash in rote, revolutionary songs like 'The East is Red' and 'Union is Strength,' Teng's music offered something entirely different. It was personal, tender and deeply human. Her gentle, approachable style – often described as 'angelic' or like that of 'a girl next door' – provided solace and a sense of intimacy that had long been absent from public life. Teng's music was also admired for her ability to bridge eras. Her 1983 album 'Light Exquisite Feeling' fused classical Chinese poetry with contemporary Western pop melodies, showcasing her gift for blending the traditional and the modern. It cemented her reputation not just as a pop star but as a cultural innovator. It's no secret why audiences across China and Asia were so deeply drawn to her and her music. She was fluent in multiple languages; she was elegant but humble, polite and relatable; she was involved in various charities; and she spoke out in support of democratic values. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Chinese immigrant population in the United States grew to over 1.1 million. Teng's music has also deeply embedded itself within Chinese diasporic communities across the country. In cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, Chinese immigrants played her music at family gatherings, during holidays and at community events. Walk through any Chinatown during Lunar New Year and you're bound to hear her voice wafting through the streets. Teng visits New York City's Chinatown during her 1980 concert tour in the U.S. Wikimedia Commons For younger Chinese Americans and even non-Chinese audiences, Teng's music has become a window into Chinese culture. When I was studying in the US, I often met Asian American students who belted out her songs at karaoke nights or during cultural festivals. Many had grown up hearing her music through their parents' playlists or local community celebrations. The release of her recently discovered song is a reminder that some voices do not fade – they evolve, migrate and live on in the hearts of people scattered across the world. In an age when global politics drive different cultures apart, Teng's enduring appeal reminds us of something quieter yet more lasting: the power of voice to transmit emotion across time and space, the way a melody can build a bridge between continents and generations. I recently rewatched the YouTube video for Teng's iconic 1977 ballad 'The Moon Represents My Heart.' As I read the comments section, one perfectly encapsulated what I had discovered about Teresa Teng in my own research: 'Teng's music opened a window to a culture I never knew I needed.' Xianda Huang is a PhD student in Asian languages and cultures, University of California, Los Angeles. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
RTHK
5 days ago
- RTHK
'Beckham to be awarded knighthood by King Charles'
'Beckham to be awarded knighthood by King Charles' King Charles chats with David Beckham at the Chelsea Flower Show. Photo: AFP David Beckham will be awarded a knighthood by King Charles next week in recognition of his football career and his charity work, reports said on Friday. The former England football captain is set to be named in the King's Birthday Honours List, according to sources. Other sporting figures who have been awarded the title include Beckham's former manager at Manchester United, Alex Ferguson, and British tennis great Andy Murray. The Sun newspaper said he would take the title of "Sir" and his wife, Victoria, a former member of the Spice Girls pop group, will be known as Lady Beckham. Beckham played 115 times for England as well as for a list of high-profile clubs, including United and Real Madrid. He is currently the president and co-owner of the US team Inter Miami and co-owner of Salford City, who play in the fourth tier of English football. The 50-year-old, who has long been in the running for a knighthood, was appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2003 – a lower award in Britain's honours system. Victoria later received the same award for services to the fashion industry. David Beckham was last month named in Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential leaders in philanthropy. He is an official ambassador for The King's Foundation, supporting its education programmes and "efforts to ensure young people have a greater understanding of nature" and has been a Unicef goodwill ambassador since 2005. (AFP)
RTHK
03-06-2025
- RTHK
Zheng ousted by Sabalenka in French Open
Zheng ousted by Sabalenka in French Open Zheng Qinwen of China falls in straight sets against Aryna Sabalenka in the French Open quarterfinals. Photo: Reuters World number one Aryna Sabalenka ended Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen's winning streak on the Paris clay with a straight-sets victory on Tuesday to seal herself a spot in the French Open semifinals. Sabalenka next faces three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland who posted a straight-sets victory over 13th seed Elina Svitolina. The top seed from Belarus won through 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 against the Chinese eighth seed in just under two hours on Court Philippe Chatrier. The 27-year-old fought back after struggling in the first set against Zheng, who had beaten her in the last eight on clay in Rome last month, extending her record against the Chinese player to 7-1. "The last tournament I was pretty exhausted," said Sabalenka. "Today I was more fresh I was ready to battle, to fight and give everything. "Honestly, I was actually glad that I lost that match because I needed a little break before Roland Garros." Zheng broke and led 4-2 in the first set. But numerous unforced errors – 31 in total – allowed the Belarusian to come back. The second set was also tight before Sabalenka broke back to lead 4-3, taking advantage of her opponent's errors. Sabalenka converted her first match point on a poorly-controlled drop-shot from Zheng to reach her seventh semifinal of the season. In another quarterfinal, Swiatek bested the former world number three Svitolina of Ukraine 6-1, 7-5 in just over 90 minutes to continue her bid to equal a 102-year record by winning four successive French Open titles. (AFP)
