Panda enthusiasts gathered at Ocean Park on Sunday to get a sight of An An and Ke Ke, as the two pandas gifted by Beijing made their public debut today.

Kamy Yeung, who has been following the news about the animals, told RTHK that it is a great day to give the pandas a big welcome.

“I happen to be seeing them eating breakfast in the morning... and it’s quite nice to see them being lively and smiley. It’s nice to see all the enthusiasm from everyone around the world to celebrate the joy at the park,” she said.

Singapore tourist Rachel Wang spent around HK$1,100 on panda souvenirs. She said she finds An An adorable.

“He’s so active, but having seen the pandas, I think Ke Ke is very demure and very loveable. I’m really excited and I love pandas to start with... actually I want to be a panda as well after seeing them,” she said.

Anthony Mezzatesta from the United States said he woke up early just to see the pandas.

“I like the girl panda a little bit more, she seemed a little bit more shy, very cute to see her get all nervous seeing a bunch of people. We queued up at around 9am. I was very excited to see the pandas. I woke up at six in the morning ready to go to Ocean Park to see the pandas,” he said.

The theme park has implemented dispersion measures, in which around 100 tickets are given out every 15 minutes. Each visitor is only allowed to stay in the area for 10 minutes.

Following the debut of An An and Ke Ke, the new panda twins will greet the public in the first quarter next year.

Also on Sunday, the new tourism minister, Rosanna Law, said the panda naming competition had allowed the public to participate in a meaningful way.

Law said the winner of the competition, which received some 20,000 entries, had given good reasons why the original names should be kept.

The minister described the names as approachable adding it was good there was no need to change them.
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Last updated: 2024-12-08 HKT 15:37