Christmas gifts: giant pandas An An and Ke Ke to meet Hongkongers in December
Bears get official welcome at ceremony attended by Chief Secretary Eric Chan and tourism minister Kevin Yeung at the airport
Hong Kong is rolling out the red carpet on Thursday for a much-awaited pair of adult giant pandas gifted by Beijing.
Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki and tourism minister Kevin Yeung Yun-hung welcomed the bears at a ceremony at Hong Kong International Airport in the morning.
Kwok thanked Cathay Cargo for sponsoring the transfer of the bears, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for a HK$121 million (US$15.5 million) donation to expand panda infrastructure at Ocean Park and mainland authorities for the logistics and further help.
Male An An and female Ke Ke, as they are known in Sichuan province, are both aged five, the equivalent of 15 in human years.
They left the giant panda base in Dujiangyan at 3am, a day after Yeung, mainland Chinese officials and Ocean Park chairman Paulo Pong Kin-yee saw them off with much fanfare.
The Post tracked the pandas from Hong Kong airport to their new home at Ocean Park in Southern district.
Reporting by Denise Tsang, Lo Hoi-ying, Leopold Chen and William Yiu.
