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| Chen Yinrong feeds giant pandas apples on Saturday at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan province, during the final competition of the 2012 Global Pambassador program. Chen was among the three winners of the competition. [Photo/China Daily] |
The audience burst into hearty laughter when Frenchman Serge Pouille said he loved the giant panda in Chinese with a strong Sichuan accent after being dubbed a Pambassador, in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on Saturday.
Pouille had just been confirmed as one of three winners of the 2012 Global Pambassador program, a three-month long competition to find "panda ambassadors", to spread the word of the plight of the giant panda across the globe. Pouille's fellow Pambassadors are Chen Yinrong from China and Melissa Katz from the United States.
"All three of us shed tears after learning we had become the winners," said Chen, 26, a journalist from a magazine in Shanghai.
Katz, Chen and Pouille will serve as Chengdu Pambassadors for one year in 2013, visiting all countries with pandas, including the US, Japan, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Australia, to advocate for the protection and reproduction of the animals.
The Pambassador competition started on Sept 10, and nearly 1.2 million people from 30 countries and regions around the world took part.
The competition was organized by the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in partnership with WildAid, an NGO combating illegal wildlife trade, and the Yao Ming Foundation, run by the retired NBA basketball star Yao Ming, to raise awareness of giant panda conservation.
On Saturday morning, 16 winners from four subzones in Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and the Chinese mainland participated in the final competition in Chengdu.
Landmark building should respect the public's feeling
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