Lottery winners get glimpse of Japan's new baby panda
Two thousand lottery winners meet Japan's panda.
— -- On Dec. 19 the winners of a Japanese lottery got the chance to see Xiang Xiang, the new baby panda at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. More than 18,000 people entered the lottery to see the cub, according to NHK, Japan's public broadcaster.
The 2,000 winners gathered and watched as the 6-month-old panda played with her mother, Shin Shin.
Before she was born, the city of Tokyo received more than 300,000 name suggestions from the public, according to the Japan Times. Xiang Xiang, the winning name, can either mean “fragrance” or “popular,” and was suggested 5,161 times.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government decided to wait until Xiang Xiang was 100 days old before announcing her name. That decision stems from a Chinese proverb that says if a cub survives its first 100 days it will grow up to be strong, local media reported.
The Ueno Zoo could not immediately be reached for comment.