Naming contest for giant pandas gifted to Hong Kong by Beijing open to public

Tourism chief Kevin Yeung says public can submit entries from Wednesday to October 27, and can also join painting competition from October 21

Reading Time:2 minutes

Ke Ke (left) and An An, the giant pandas gifted by Beijing, are expected to be ready to meet the Hong Kong public around Christmas, at the earliest. Photo: Bifengxia Panda Base

Published: 5:49pm, 2 Oct 2024Updated: 7:29pm, 3 Oct 2024

Hong Kong’s tourism minister has urged members of the public to participate in a citywide competition to rename two pandas gifted by Beijing.

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung encouraged residents to submit their suggestions for the two bears, An An and Ke Ke, and also join a painting competition.

“Although the two pandas already have names, we think there may be ones that are even more suitable and correspond to their characteristics,” he said.

Yeung added that submissions should be made with an accompanying paragraph of about 100 words explaining why the proposed names were suitable.

The minister said the entries, which must be in Chinese, would be judged by a government-appointed panel, confirming earlier reports by the Post. The naming contest ends on October 27, while the painting competition runs from October 21 to November 8.

The competition’s terms and conditions also state the entries should be two to four characters long, easy to pronounce, and “must not contain discriminatory, controversial, or inappropriate words or meanings”.