(CNN) – Hong Kong will roll out the red carpet this Thursday to receive two giant pandas gifted by the Chinese government as part of a citywide campaign by authorities to promote patriotism to commemorate 75 years of Communist Party rule.
Five-year-old An and Kay Kay are expected to land at Hong Kong International Airport shortly after noon, where they will be greeted with a welcome ceremony.
But fans who want to see them will have to wait at least a month as they will spend the next 30 days in quarantine in the southern Chinese city.
Elite police bikers, who normally escort visiting VIPs, will take them to their new home in Ocean Park, where they will join four other pandas from the theme park.
An and KK come from a breeding center in Sichuan Province, China. Employees of the Chengdu metropolis arrived at 2 a.m. to transfer the pandas to the airport and begin the 1,350-kilometer journey, packed with snacks.
According to footage from Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK, they used forklifts to load the two into a truck while a line of staff watched them from the sidewalk.
The Ocean Park panda keeper is in Chengdu to accustom the bears to his scent and voice, the theme park said on its Instagram page, adding that staff have also introduced southern Chinese bamboo to their food.
Ann, a 130-kilogram male, is “strong, active and intelligent,” while Kay Kay, a 100-kilogram female, is “a good climber, kind and gentle,” said John Lee, the city’s executive director.
They now have six pandas in the city, joining Le Le and Ying Ying, who were given to Hong Kong in 2007. Ying Ying hit the headlines in August when she gave birth to twins, making her the first known panda mother.
Panda diplomacy
Although these animals never left China, their journey has the subtitle “panda diplomacy”. Beijing lends pandas to more than 20 countries as ambassadors of friendship, sometimes seen as a thermometer of relations.
Similarly, An An and Kay Kay’s visit to Hong Kong has a political purpose, with Hong Kong officials excited to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on October 1.
“I would like to once again express my sincere gratitude to the central government for its attention and support to Hong Kong for gifting Hong Kong with two lovable and energetic giant pandas,” Lee said on Tuesday.
Hong Kong activists protested on October 1 for more democracy. However, repressive measures by city officials have jailed or exiled opposition figures since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020.
Chinese and Hong Kong officials say the law helped restore stability to the financial center following mass protests in 2019. They vowed to instill a new culture of Chinese patriotism among Hongkongers and fight what they called “foreign interference”.
The US government, its allies and human rights groups have criticized the national security crackdown for eroding individual liberties and ending the free and open culture of what was once the center of international trade.
Ahead of this year’s celebrations, Chinese flags have been hoisted in many parts of the city, with giant banners celebrating the anniversary and preparations underway for a series of patriotic events.
Kevin Yeung, the city’s Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said on Wednesday that he hoped the pandas’ visit would “make Hong Kong feel even more deeply concerned by the central government”.
