Following the arrival of a pair of giant pandas gifted to our city by the Chinese government on September 26, Hong Kong’s Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau announced a contest to name these bears from Sichuan. From now until October 27, Hong Kong residents can submit their choices along with a 100-word explanation.
Each participant can only submit one entry, so if you’ve got a whole list of ideas you’ll have to weed them down. A panel will then review the submissions and make the final decision, judging the names based on creativity, how meaningful they are, and how well they reflect ‘the young, lovely, and vivacious characteristics’ of the giant pandas. Currently, the male giant panda is called An An and the female is Ke Ke, and participants in the naming contest are welcome to propose keeping these names – but you might remember that An An was already the name of another giant panda that Hong Kong had from 1999 to 2022.
The winner of the giant panda naming contest will receive an annual membership to Ocean Park for four adults and giant panda-related souvenirs, along with vouchers for retail and food and beverages within Ocean Park. Eight other people will stand to win the merit prize, and be awarded with an annual Ocean Park membership for two people, as well as the souvenirs and retail and F&B vouchers at a lesser value.
There will also be a giant panda drawing competition where contestants depict our two new pandas using their photographs and videos as reference. This competition will be split into three groups: all Hong Kong residents, students in secondary one to six, and students in primary one to six. Participants should submit their hand-drawn paintings between October 21 and November 8, along with a short explanation of the message behind their works. The prizes for the champion artist and the merit winners will be the same as in the naming contest.
The results of both these competitions will be announced towards the end of the year, and winners will be individually notified. For more details on submitting your entries for these panda-themed contests, visit the Ocean Park competition website.
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