Tokyo’s baby panda appears before selected guests, media
TOKYO — A baby panda made a special appearance Monday before Tokyo’s governor, a group of local schoolchildren and the media one day ahead of its official public debut, and quickly captured their hearts.
Xiang Xiang, a 6-month-old female giant panda, will debut Tuesday in a limited public viewing for avid fans who obtained tickets through a highly competitive lottery process.
Xiang Xiang, or Fragrance in Chinese, was born June 12 to a resident panda at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo and now weighs more than 12 kilograms (26 pounds).
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike smiled as she came out of the zoo’s panda house, telling reporters that the baby panda was “just adorable.”