Panda Cub's Birthday Present: A Name
'Tai Shan,' Winning Choice of Online Voters, A Symbolic Nod to U.S.-China Friendship
The National Zoo's giant panda cub was officially dubbed Tai Shan yesterday and heralded as a symbol -- a very cute symbol -- of friendship between the United States and China.
Tai Shan, pronounced tie shahn and meaning "peaceful mountain," was the favorite in the zoo's online poll offering five choices approved by the China Wildlife Conservation Association. One of three names suggested by the Panda House staff, it garnered about 44 percent of more than 202,000 votes cast. ...
The zoo's new director, John Berry, called for a drumroll and revealed the choice at a ceremony outside the Panda House that also celebrated the cub's landmark 100th day. The event featured costumed dancers and a delegation of Smithsonian Institution and Chinese officials.
"For 14 weeks, millions of people have delighted in watching him," Berry said, referring to a worldwide legion of fans that has monitored the cub on the zoo's 24-hour Web camera since his birth July 9....
"Giant pandas are a valuable resource in China and also a great gift of China to the world and the United States," Yan Xun, deputy director of China's Conservation Department, said through a translator. [Translations were provided at the last moment by Robyn S. Kravit, President of the Board of Directors of Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ).]
Panda diplomacy was launched at the National Zoo more than 30 years ago. The zoo's first two pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, were a gift from the Chinese government in 1972, when China and the United States were trying to improve relations.
Zheng Zeguang, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese Embassy, noted that those pandas entertained the American people and others for two decades. Speaking in English, he declared that the current pair, Tian Tian (t ...More...
underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.
") are described as follows: