Everland's twin pandas Rui Bao, Hui Bao celebrate 1st birthday

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Everland's twin pandas Rui Bao, Hui Bao celebrate 1st birthday

Published: 07 Jul. 2024, 14:21

YIM SEUNG-HYE
yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr

Everland's twin pandas Rui Bao, left, and Hui Bao, enjoy their first birthday cake on their birthday on July 7. [SAMSUNG C&T]

Everland’s twin pandas celebrated their first birthday on Sunday and the zoo in Gyeonggi threw them a birthday party by inviting 60 fans of the twins and streaming the festivities live on the amusement parks' YouTube channel.

For their doljabi event, Rui Bao picked up a dumbbell made of bamboo, which represents health, while Hui Bao picked up a microphone made also from bamboo, which represents popularity.

Hui Bao with her birthday cake [SAMSUNG C&T]

Rui Bao with her birthday cake [SAMSUNG C&T]

Doljabi is a traditional Korean ceremony held on a child’s first birthday, where they are seated in front of various items like cash, pens and thread, each symbolizing different futures such as longevity, intelligence and wealth.

The birthday cake was made of bamboo, carrots and wotou, a healthy biscuit the pandas love made from corn and rice flour, sugar, eggs and salt. The zookeepers also gave the twins a special birthday present: a large bamboo toy car the twins can ride in.

According to Everland, some 20,000 people participated in the quiz event guessing which objects the twin pandas would pick up during the doljabi event. Everland will randomly select 365 people from those who correctly guessed the items to receive a gift bag that includes a soft toy panda created for the occasion.

Zookeeper Kang Cheol-won looks at Rui Bao enjoying her birthday present. [SAMSUNG C&T]

Rui Bao and Hui Bao are the siblings of star giant panda Fu Bao and Korea’s first naturally bred giant panda twins.

“It wasn’t easy fostering the twins with their mother Ai Bao for the past year, but it was a happy experience as well,” said Everland’s zookeeper Kang Cheol-won, who is affectionately called “Fu Bao’s grandfather” by the pandas' fans.