Giant pandas bring Hong Kong and Sichuan closer through decades of cooperation, exchanges

Lang Shunyun, a woman from Hong Kong, has been working as a keeper for two years at the Shenshuping base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in the Wolong National Nature Reserve, southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

The Shenshuping base was sponsored by the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). It is a paradise for giant pandas, as well as being Lang’s second hometown.

Lang Shunyun, a panda keeper, feeds the giant panda “Xiu Qiu” a steamed bun at the Shenshuping base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in the Wolong National Nature Reserve, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, June 21, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

“I’ve been working here for two years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been a long time since I went back to Hong Kong the last time. But here at the Wolong base, I can see signs everywhere which indicate that the base’s reconstruction was assisted by Hong Kong. This makes me feel closer to the place,” said Lang.

Lang, who has had a fondness for giant pandas since her childhood, initially served as a panda keeper at the Ocean Park in Hong Kong, taking up the duty of taking care of the giant pandas sent by the central government to the HKSAR as gifts.

Lang Shunyun watches over giant panda “Pan Yue” eating bamboo on June 21, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

To commemorate Hong Kong’s return to the motherland in 1997, the central government decided to send a pair of giant pandas to Hong Kong as a gift. In May 1999, the two giant pandas made their first public appearance in Hong Kong.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, the central government sent another two giant pandas to Hong Kong.

The four giant pandas Hong Kong had received were all from the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in the Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan.

In 2015, Lang took “Ying Ying,” one of the giant pandas that was living in Hong Kong, back to the pandas’ home in Sichuan, in the hope of finding a mate for the panda. There, she met Dong Chao, head of the animal management department at the Shenshuping base and the two fell in love with each other. In 2018, Lang and Dong tied the knot. The couple now have a 4-year-old boy of their own.

Lang Shunyun and her husband Dong Chao, who is also a panda keeper, feed a panda cub milk, on June 21, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

On May 12, 2008, an earthquake hit the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda hard, destroying the Shenshuping base and severely damaging the roads connecting the base with the outside world. Hong Kong, which had maintained a deep friendship with Sichuan because of the giant pandas, decided to help reconstruct the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda and relevant facilities.

Hong Kong helped complete a total of 23 post-quake reconstruction projects at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda with a total combined funding of 1.4 billion yuan ($213 million).

On May 11, 2016, the Shenshuping base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda at the Wolong National Nature Reserve was reopened. To express gratitude towards Hong Kong, the Shenshuping base and the Dujiangyan base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda have remained open to Hong Kong citizens for free permanently.

Lang Shunyun and her husband Dong Chao, who is also a panda keeper, feed a panda cub milk, on June 21, 2022. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda has engaged in regular cooperation and exchanges with Hong Kong. In previous years, the center would send nursing staff members and veterinarians to Hong Kong to provide assistance. In the past two years, due to the pandemic, experts from the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda have been unable to go to Hong Kong, but they’ve worked out alternative plans to take good care of the giant pandas living in Hong Kong.