{"id":16682,"date":"2025-05-27T11:40:57","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T11:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/27\/hong-kongs-baby-pandas-finally-get-names-meet-jia-jia-and-de-de\/"},"modified":"2025-05-27T11:40:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T11:40:57","slug":"hong-kongs-baby-pandas-finally-get-names-meet-jia-jia-and-de-de","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/27\/hong-kongs-baby-pandas-finally-get-names-meet-jia-jia-and-de-de\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong\u2019s baby pandas finally get names. Meet Jia Jia and De De"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hong Kong\u2019s first locally born giant pandas have finally been named and introduced as Jia Jia and De De. <\/p>\n

The names of the cubs, affectionately known as \u201cElder Sister\u201d and \u201cLittle Brother,\u201d were announced Tuesday in a ceremony at Ocean Park, the theme park housing them, their parents and two other giant pandas that arrived from mainland China last year. <\/p>\n

The names were the winning suggestions from residents in a naming contest that drew more than 35,700 entries. <\/p>\n

The Chinese character \u201cJia,\u201d from the female cub\u2019s name \u201cJia Jia,\u201d carries a message of support and features an element of family and a sense of auspicious grace. The name embodies the prosperity of families and the nation and the happiness of the people, the park said. <\/p>\n

The Chinese character \u201cDe,\u201d from the male cub\u2019s name, means to succeed, carrying the connotation that Hong Kong is successful in everything. De also has the same pronunciation as the Chinese character for virtue, the park said, suggesting giant pandas possess virtues cherished by Chinese people. <\/p>\n

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The twin panda cubs are seen at an enclosure in Ocean Park in Hong Kong.<\/span> <\/div>
Man Hei Leung\/Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The twin panda cubs were born in August in Hong Kong.<\/span> <\/div>
Man Hei Leung\/Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ocean Park chairman Paulo Pong said they followed tradition by using Mandarin pronunciation for the pandas\u2019 English names. He said \u201cJia\u201d sounds like a word in the Cantonese term for elder sister, while \u201cDe De\u201d sounds a bit like the Cantonese phrase for little brother. Cantonese is the mother language of many Hong Kongers. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very positive pair of names,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to be a bit creative here with the names.\u201d <\/p>\n

The twins\u2019 birth in August made their mother, Ying Ying, the world\u2019s oldest first-time panda mom. Their popularity among residents, visitors and on social media raised hopes for a tourism boost in the city, where politicians touted the commercial opportunities as the \u201cpanda economy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Observers are watching whether housing six pandas helps the park revive its business, especially when caring for the animals in captivity is expensive. Ocean Park recorded a deficit of 71.6 million Hong Kong dollars ($9.2 million) last financial year. <\/p>\n

The park recorded a nearly 40% growth in visitor flow and 40% increase in overall income during a five-day holiday beginning May 1 in mainland China, said Pong, who hopes the growth momentum will continue through summer, Halloween and Christmas seasons. <\/p>\n

Pandas are considered China\u2019s unofficial national mascot. The country\u2019s giant panda loan program with overseas zoos has long been seen as a tool of Beijing\u2019s soft-power diplomacy. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hong Kong\u2019s first locally born giant pandas have finally been named and introduced as Jia Jia and De De. The names of the cubs, affectionately known as \u201cElder Sister\u201d and \u201cLittle Brother,\u201d were announced Tuesday in a ceremony at Ocean Park, the theme park housing them, their parents and two other giant pandas that arrived <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16682","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}