On March 3, at Korea Incheon International Airport, a crowd of excited people gathered to welcome the arrival of two giant pandas.

Yes, China continues of its brilliant diplomatic practice of sending cute pandas overseas as ‘goodwill ambassadors’. To this day 14 countries in total have received pandas from the Chinese government.

This is actually the second time China has sent pandas to South Korea. Back in 1994, “Ming Ming” and “Li Li” were sent to Korea where they lived for four years before returning to China. This time, “Le Bao” and “Ai Bao” will follow in the footsteps of their predecessors for a planned 15 year stay.   

The practice of sending pandas overseas as goodwill gestures dates all the way back to 685 when Empress Wu Zetian presented a pair to Japan as presents. In recent years, the pandas are typically sent for research and wildlife diversification purposes as well.

The two loveable black and white fur balls will be taken in at Everland, South Korea’s largest theme park.

Source: thepaper.cn

Warning：The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

Keywords: Panda ambassador South Korea panda Chinese panda