Xiang Xiang's seventh birthday draws Japanese panda fans

Dozens of Japanese visitors lined up at the Bifengxia Giant Panda Base in Ya'an, Southwest China's Sichuan province, on Wednesday morning to celebrate the seventh birthday of Xiang Xiang, a Japan-born female giant panda.

Seto, a Japanese visitor, said she used to visit Xiang Xiang at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, and this time, she and her friends came to see Xiang Xiang on her birthday.

"She looks the same as when she was in Japan, still as cute as ever," she said.

Xiang Xiang was born in June 2017 at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. Her parents, Shin Shin (female) and Ri Ri (male), were both loaned from China, where the ownership of their cubs belongs.

Since returning to China on Feb 21 last year, Xiang Xiang has been living at the Bifengxia Giant Panda Base, a giant panda research and breeding facility managed by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.

Zhao Lanlan, Xiang Xiang's keeper, said there has been a surge of Japanese visitors to the base in recent days.