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贝贝
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yaan_bifengxia_base
Bei Bei (贝贝), studbook #978, is a male giant panda born on August 22, 2015 at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington...
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XIA
Panda archive
Xiang Xiang
香香
alive female
Born June 12, 2017
Xiang Xiang (香香), studbook #1070, is a female giant panda born on June 12, 2017 at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan — the first panda cub born at Ueno in 29 years. Her parents are Bi Li (比力/力力) and Xian Nv (仙女/真真). Named from 320,000 submissions, she captivated Japan, generating over 600 billion yen in economic effects. Her return to China was delayed five times due to COVID. She finally returned on February 21, 2023 and now resides at the Ya'an Bifengxia Base.
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Profile snapshot
Quick facts
Birth date
June 12, 2017
Birth place
Ueno Zoo
Current location
yaan_bifengxia_base
Status
Alive
Studbook
#1070Archive activity
4 updates · 1 media
Narrative
Life story
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Short version
Xiang Xiang (香香), studbook #1070, is a female giant panda born on June 12, 2017 at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan — the first panda cub born at Ueno in 29 years. Her parents are Bi Li (比力/力力) and Xian Nv (仙女/真真). Named from 320,000 submissions, she captivated Japan, generating over 600 billion yen in economic effects. Her return to China was delayed five times due to COVID. She finally returned on February 21, 2023 and now resides at the Ya'an Bifengxia Base.
Basic Profile
Xiang Xiang (Chinese: 香香) is a female giant panda born on June 12, 2017, at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan — the first giant panda cub born at Ueno Zoo in 29 years. She holds the global studbook number 1070.
Her father is Bi Li (比力/力力, studbook 421) and her mother is Xian Nv (仙女/真真, studbook 474). She has younger siblings: twin brother Xiao Xiao (晓晓) and twin sister Lei Lei (蕾蕾) (born 2021).
Naming
From July to August 2017, Ueno Zoo collected name suggestions from the public, receiving approximately 320,000 entries. After selection by a committee headed by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi and consultation with China, on September 25, 2017, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike announced the name “Xiang Xiang” (香香).
Public Debut
On December 19, 2017, Xiang Xiang made her first public appearance at Ueno Zoo — the first panda cub exhibition in 29 years. Visitors entered via lottery, similar to what would later happen for Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei.
Life in Japan
Independence (January 2019)
At 1.5 years old (40.3 kg), Xiang Xiang was fully weaned and began independent living. She had grown all her adult teeth and was eating primarily bamboo.
Delayed Return
Xiang Xiang was originally scheduled to return to China in 2019 at age 2. However, her return was delayed five times due to COVID-19 and related travel restrictions, spanning from 2019 to 2023.
Return to China
On February 19, 2023, thousands of Japanese fans bid farewell at Ueno Zoo. On February 21, 2023, Xiang Xiang departed Japan, arriving at Chengdu that afternoon. She was transported to the Ya’an Bifengxia Base for quarantine.
She resumed public viewing on October 8, 2023.
Cultural Impact
Xiang Xiang generated an estimated 600 billion yen (approximately 28 billion RMB) in economic effects during her time in Japan. A documentary “Going Home! Panda Princess Xiang Xiang” was released in 2024. Japanese photographer Takashi Koushi continuously documented her 920-day growth in Japan.
Evidence
Life timeline
Key updates and milestone events tied to Xiang Xiang.
2017 (2)
Knowledge graph
Family and network
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Father Mother Full siblings Half-siblings (grouped)
Full siblings 2 same father & mother
Xiang Xiang has
2 full siblings and 3 half-siblings.
The majority share the same mother, You You .
Theme graph
Themes connected to Xiang Xiang
This panda is connected to 5 themes in the broader archive graph.
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Gallery
Media gallery
Images and video connected to Xiang Xiang.
Images (1)
Connected archive
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Place journey
Current location
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Mentioned in archive reading
culture
Bifengxia Base: The First Stop for Every Returning Overseas Panda
Nestled in the misty mountains above Ya'an, Sichuan, the Bifengxia Panda Base is the quiet epicenter of the global panda diaspora — the place every overseas-born panda first encounters when it returns to China. With its cool climate, abundant bamboo, and specialized quarantine facilities, Bifengxia has processed every major panda homecoming of the modern era, from Tai Shan in 2010 to Fu Bao in 2024.
culture
International Vet Cooperation: Solving Overseas Panda Health Crises
When a panda falls ill in a zoo thousands of miles from China, the response is not local — it is global. Chinese veterinary teams fly to foreign zoos. Foreign keepers travel to China for training. Video consultations connect specialists across continents. This article explores the hidden international medical network that keeps the global panda diaspora healthy — from emergency surgeries to chronic disease management to the delicate art of diagnosing a panda that cannot describe its symptoms.
culture
The Great Return: Why Overseas-Born Pandas Must Come Home
Every panda born outside China must return by age four — a clause that shapes the emotional landscape of international panda cooperation. From Tai Shan (2005) to Fu Bao (2024), this article traces the biological, legal, and emotional dimensions of the panda homecoming, examining what happens when an overseas-born panda lands in Chengdu and must learn to be a Chinese panda.
culture
80 Years of Panda Diplomacy: From Wartime Gifts to Global Research Loans
Trace the transformation of giant panda diplomacy from 1941, when Soong Mei-ling gifted the first pandas to America, through the landmark 1972 Nixon-era exchange, to today's international research loan agreements that channel millions of dollars annually into wild habitat conservation. This is the untold story of how a reclusive mountain bear became the world's most powerful diplomatic animal.
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