Wuhan Panda Rings in Four Years

Panda "Chunqiao" celebrated her fourth birthday in Wuhan Zoo on Aug 8, 2019. This was also her first birthday in Wuhan. [Photo by Ke Hao/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The panda "Chunqiao" celebrated her fourth birthday at Wuhan Zoo on Thursday. This was also her first birthday in Wuhan, and her special day was rung in with style, including a cake with fresh bamboo shoots, carrots and apples.

Residents from Wuhan and international friends from Mexico and Japan attended her party and brought gifts.

The birthday cake for the panda was prepared more than 20 days ago. "The cake must taste cool and delicious, since summer is very hot. And pink is very suitable for the lovely girl", said zookeeper Xiao Xin.

Panda "Chunqiao" eats bamboo as she celebrates her fourth birthday at Wuhan Zoo in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, on Aug 8, 2019. [Photo by Ke Hao/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Xiao planned to present a special fruit ice cake to "Chunqiao" in July, mixing watermelon juice, carrot juice, blueberry juice and other juices together as the main part of the cake. On the big day she decorated the cake with fresh bamboo shoots, steamed cornbread, apples and other ingredients.

The pink berry ice cake caught the eye of "Chunqiao" after being presented to her at 10 am on Aug 8. "Chunqiao" was first sitting nearby eating bamboo shoots. After a while, she came to the cake and enjoyed her birthday meal.

Four-year-old female giant panda "Chunqiao" sniffs a cake as she celebrates her birthday at Wuhan Zoo in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province. [Photo by Ke Hao/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The birthday party also showcased the daily necessities of the panda in order to let more visitors know about the animal's habits. Wang Zhiyong, "father" of "Chunqiao" as the zookeeper most familiar with her daily life, discussed the routines of twin pandas "Chunqiao" and "Pangniu" in Wuhan, including which parts of the bamboo plant "Chunqiao" likes best and the bear's sleeping habits.

Children were interested in the steamed cornbread made especially for the panda, which carries abundant nutrients. One boy surnamed Zhang had a taste and said excitedly, "It tastes like potato, delicious!"

Panda "Chunqiao" eats bamboo as she celebrates her fourth birthday at Wuhan Zoo in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province. [Photo by Ke Hao/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Foreign visitors from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Mexico, Japan and Uzbekistan also came to celebrate and gave blessings in their own languages.

Miral from Mexico, an exchange student at Wuhan University, is a huge panda fan. She hopes to visit "Chunqiao" before she leaves China next week.

Another friend from Japan has visited many places in China to see pandas over the last 10 years. "Pandas are so cute and adorable. I made a lot of friends with Chinese panda-lovers. Pandas in Wuhan will attract more foreigners to know about China and fall in love with China", she said.

Panda "Chunqiao" eats bamboo as she celebrates her fourth birthday at Wuhan Zoo. [Photo by Ke Hao/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Creative products related to panda are also very popular. On Aug 8, Wuhan Zoo released a line of items, including a T-shirt with images of "Chunqiao" and "Pangniu" on it, fridge magnets, postcards, stickers and booklets. Animal Kitchen also made 50 pieces of mini steamed cornbread, and staff discussed nutrition and presented the bread to visitors.

Panda "Chunqiao" enjoys her special birthday cake including fresh bamboo shoots, carrots and apples at Wuhan Zoo. [Photo by Ke Hao/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Panda "Chunqiao" eats bamboo as she celebrates her fourth birthday at Wuhan Zoo. [Photo by Ke Hao/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Panda "Chunqiao" enjoys her special birthday cake including fresh bamboo shoots, carrots and apples at Wuhan Zoo. [Photo by Ke Hao/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]