#sichuan province

[thepastisalreadywritten]

(CNN) — Ever since her 2020 birth, Fu Bao has been one of South Korea’s biggest celebrities, with fans eagerly following every milestone of her life at Everland Resort’s Panda World, a theme park in Yongin city.

But the country’s most famous and beloved giant panda is set to bid South Korea a final farewell in April, with preparations now underway for her journey to her new home in China.

During the last week of Fu Bao’s public viewing earlier this month, visitors reportedly endured wait times of 5-6 hours just to catch a glimpse of the celebrity bear for a mere five minutes, as the park restricted viewing times to manage the influx of visitors, according to park officials.

On Fu Bao’s last day of public viewing on March 3, she received farewell gifts, including a panda family doll crafted from bamboo, a bouquet of flowers and heart-shaped pieces of bread from her dedicated keepers at Everland.

Fu Bao fandom

Born to parents Ai Bao and Le Bao in July 2020 as part of China’s “panda diplomacy” program, Fu Bao is South Korea’s first naturally-bred panda.

In the days following her birth, Everland’s social media channels offered fans a steady diet of Fu Bao videos, with its YouTube channel pulling in more than 1.2 million subscribers and, as of February, surpassing 500 million cumulative views, according to the park.

A two-hour video chronicling Fu Bao’s journey from birth to childhood added to the Everland YouTube channel eight months ago has garnered 1.6 million views.

The most recent videos on the channel are now filled with warm and heartfelt messages from viewers, including the beloved cub’s self-proclaimed “online aunties.”

“Fu Bao, you’re a happy treasure that came to us like a miracle during the difficult Covid pandemic,” reads one Youtube comment.

“Your aunties have been so happy to have known you and you made me smile so much. You’re a clever one so I’m so sure you’ll do well in a new environment!”

Another commented that they “can’t believe how time passes so quickly and that we have to let Fu Bao go. I’m so sad to let her go … I support our Fu and love you. Every moment knowing you has been a great joy with laughter. Thank you.”

Thanks to Fu Bao’s widespread popularity, her dedicated zookeeper has also found himself in the spotlight, becoming a bit of a social media star himself.

Often referred to as her grandpa, Kang Chul-won offered his own farewell message for Fu Bao, noting that the Korean people’s special love for her all began with social media videos shared during the Covid pandemic when the zoo was closed.

“She brought help and happiness to a society in many ways that was having a difficult time due to the coronavirus,” Kang said in a video posted to YouTube.

During remarks to the press earlier this month, he said people visited the social media sites every day, so it felt like he was “raising her together with them.”

“Of course there are aspects of her cuteness and playfulness, but they cared so much for her and they shared the same emotions of raising a cub together during such difficult times,” Kang said.

Kang Chul-won and Fu Bao

Though one could argue it’s impossible to identify a single social media moment that catapulted Fu Bao to stardom, there are a couple of standout videos that have been particularly popular with viewers.

In one video, Fu Bao clings tightly to Kang’s leg, unwilling to let go, as he spins gently around the room.

After many attempts to uncoil her strong arms, he finally separates himself from her.

The other short video shows Fu Bao clinging to Kang’s arm while relaxing on a wooden bench.

As the zookeeper gently pushes her arm so he can take his phone out of his pocket, the panda links her arms tightly around his left arm.

After he motions to show something on the phone to her, she rolls onto her back.

In an announcement from Everland, the company says Fu Bao will be transferred to the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan Province in early April.

Everland said that it will keep her in a separate space at Everland Panda World for a month to prepare her to adjust to her new environment before her overseas transfer, which will be carried out in accordance with international regulations.

According to the agreement between Samsung C&T, the parent company of Everland, and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, mature pandas must be returned to China before they turn four years old.

Once Fu Bao departs for China, there will be four giant pandas left at Everland – Fu Bao’s mother Ai Bao, father Le Bao, and their twin babies Rui Bao and Hui Bao, who were born in July 2023.

Source: CNN Travel

Baby panda 'FuBao' glued to the zookeeper dragging her around | Everland Panda World

16 December 2020

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[travelella]

Blooming flowers in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.

Source: xiaohongshu

[sitting-on-me-bum]

More than mountains: Jiuzhaigou National Park in the Chinese province of Sichuan is home to beautiful lakes and waterfalls, including this one, known as Five-Colored Pond.

PHOTOGRAPH BY AMI VITALE, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

[dark-black-dahlia]

Mountain Emei Above Clouds

[internationalteaday]

Sichuan's tea in high demand overseas.

Tuesday is International Tea Day, and the tea industry in China's Sichuan Province has grown in popularity in recent years, especially overseas. China exported over 360,000 tonnes of tea last year, and Sichuan's tea is in high demand among global consumers. CGTN's Zheng Songwu visited tea plantations and enterprises in the province to find out why.

[metropolitant]

SANXINGDUI: A GLIMPSE INTO THE ENIGMATIC BRONZE AGE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA

[sheltiechicago]

Amazing Pics That Prove China Is A Place Like No Other

Mountain Emei Above Clouds

Sichuan Province of China

w.n__t

w.n_t

[dcoglobalnews]

M6.8 QUAKE DEATH TOLL RISES TO 46 IN SW CHINA'S SICHUAN PROVINCE

M6.8 QUAKE DEATH TOLL RISES TO 46 IN SW CHINA’S SICHUAN PROVINCE

A total of 46 people died, over 50 got injured and 16 went missing after a magnitude-6.8 earthquake jolted Luding County in southwest China’s Sichuan Province on September 5. Among the deceased, 29 are from Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and 17 from Ya’an City. The earthquake relief headquarters in Ganzi activated its highest level of emergency response. More than 50,000 people in Ganzi and…

[indizombie]

Investors are concerned that the Chinese economy is slowing, Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China, said. "The economic perspective has worsened in China due to prolonged Covid control, which means further policy rate cuts have to take place. Domestic demand is too weak without further rate cuts in China." China's central bank cut its lending rates earlier this month after economic growth slowed sharply in the second quarter of this year. Power shortages in the Sichuan province have also hit major manufacturers of cars and smartphones in China. Over the weekend, official data showed that profits of China industrial firms had fallen by 1.1% from January to July, from a year earlier. A crisis in the country's property market is also proving to be a major challenge to government efforts to keep the economy growing.

‘Asia stock markets slide on US interest rate fears’, BBC

[thepastisalreadywritten]

1 August 2023

🔊

🤍🐼🖤

[earl-of-221b]

I apologise for the person I am about to become when Light Chaser Animation’s New Gods: Yang Jian movie drops.

[photo-by-thomas]

Fresh fruit in the Tibetan Market

Kangding, Garze, Sichuan, China 2022

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

Car assembly plants and electronics factories in southwestern China have closed for lack of power. Owners of electric cars are waiting overnight at charging stations to recharge their vehicles. Rivers are so low there that ships can no longer carry supplies.

A record-setting drought and an 11-week heat wave are causing broad disruption in a region that depends on dams for more than three-quarters of its electricity generation. The factory shutdowns and logistical delays are hindering China’s efforts to revive its economy as the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, prepares to claim a third term in power this autumn.

The ruling Communist Party is already struggling to reverse a slowdown in China, the world’s second largest economy, caused by the country’s strict Covid lockdowns and a slumping real estate market. Young people are finding it hard to get jobs, while uncertainty over the economic outlook is compelling residents to save instead of spend, and to hold off on buying new homes.

Now, the extreme heat is adding to frustration by snarling power supplies, threatening crops and setting off wildfires. Reduced electricity from hydroelectric dams has prompted China to burn more coal, a large contributor to air pollution and to greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

Many cities around the country have been forced to impose rolling blackouts or limit energy use. In Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, several neighborhoods went without electricity for more than 10 hours a day.

The heat wave has scorched China for more than two months, stretching from Sichuan in the southwest to the country’s eastern coast and sending the mercury above 104 degrees on many days. In Chongqing, a sprawling metropolis in the southwest with around 20 million people, the temperature soared to 113 degrees last week, the first time such a high reading had been recorded in a Chinese city outside the western desert region of Xinjiang.

The searing heat set off wildfires in the mountains and forests on Chongqing’s outskirts, where thousands of firefighters and volunteers have worked to put out blazes. Residents said the air smelled of acrid smoke.

The drought has dried up dozens of rivers and reservoirs in the region and cut Sichuan’s hydropower generation capacity by half, hurting industrial production. Volkswagen closed its 6,000-employee factory in Chengdu for the past week and a half, and Toyota temporarily suspended operations at its assembly plant.

[southeastasianarchaeology]

Unlocking the Mysteries: Sanxingdui Museum's New Finds Stun and Intrigue

via South China Morning Post, 27 August 2023: The new Sanxingdui Museum in Sichuan draws crowds with 16,000 unearthed artifacts, baffling experts about their origins and making headlines for upcoming exhibits in Hong Kong.

via South China Morning Post, 27 August 2023: The Sanxingdui Museum in Sichuan showcases newly-discovered ancient artifacts from the Sanxingdui archaeological site, attracting tens of thousands of visitors and mystifying experts about the civilization they represent. Considered one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century, the museum pieces are among 16,000 artefacts unearthed from…

[reality-detective]

A coal-fired power plant in China's Sichuan province.

China now emits more CO2 than the entire developed world combined—completely cancelling out all the sacrifices you are being forced to make in the ludicrous pursuit of Net Zero. 🤔

[forupss]

China earthquake: 6.6-magnitude quake hits southwestern Sichuan province

China earthquake: 6.6-magnitude quake hits southwestern Sichuan province

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake with a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) was reported southwest of Sichuan’s capital Chengdu close to 1 p.m. local time on Monday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported. The quake’s epicenter was about 43 kilometers (27 miles) southeast of Kangding, a city of around 100,000 people, according to the USGS. Over a million residents in surrounding areas are…