Panda Becomes City Hall Official, Holds Honorary Director Position... Personnel News from Chengdu, China

China Appoints Female Panda Huahua as Honorary Director of Cultural Tourism Bureau
Expected to Attract Domestic and International Tourists Through Pandas

Chengdu City in Sichuan Province, China, famous as the "Home of the Panda," has made headlines by appointing a female giant panda as the honorary director of its cultural tourism department.

On the 25th, local media including Yangsheng Manbao reported that Chengdu's Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism Bureau officially announced through its Douyin (Chinese TikTok) account the day before that a 45-month-old (3 years and 9 months) female panda named Huahua (花花) was appointed as the honorary director of the Cultural Tourism Bureau.

Chengdu introduced Huahua’s full name as Chenghehua (成和花) in a promotional video. It also stated that Huahua’s hometown is Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and that she is enrolled in a full-time doctoral program at a kindergarten. Playfully, it mentioned that last year Huahua served as the promotional ambassador for the Chengdu Summer Universiade and appeared as a special guest on the Chinese Central Television (CCTV) Spring Festival Gala variety show "Chunwan" (春晩).

Giant panda Huahua, who became the honorary director of the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.
[Image source=China Baidu]

This decision appears to reflect the intention of Sichuan Province and Chengdu city authorities to actively attract domestic and international tourists through pandas. Sichuan is known as the largest habitat for giant pandas, hosting more than 30% of the world’s giant panda population.

Local netizens who learned of this news expressed comments such as "Lovely Huahua! Congratulations on becoming the honorary director," "The youngest director of the Cultural Tourism Bureau," and "She will be an excellent and righteous public official."

Giant panda Huahua, who became the honorary director of the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.
[Image source=China Weibo]

Meanwhile, Puba, a panda who was much loved in Korea under the nicknames "Yongin Pussi" and "Pugongju," has been adapting at the Wolong Xian Suping Base in Sichuan since being returned to China on the 3rd under the "Giant Panda Protection Research Agreement." After about a month of adaptation, Puba will be moved to another base and then opened to the general public after a certain period.