The Giant Panda Naming Competition and the Giant Panda Painting Competition, organised by the Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau and co-organised by Ocean Park, were launched today.

The two giant pandas gifted by the central government to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region arrived in the city on September 26. The male giant panda is currently called An An, while the female is Ke Ke.

To welcome the pandas to the Hong Kong family, residents are welcome to exercise their creativity by suggesting meaningful new names that highlight the pandas’ characteristics, the bureau said.

Participants are required to suggest a Chinese name for each of the two animals and explain the meaning of the proposed names in no more than 100 words in Chinese. Alternatively, they can propose keeping the current names by providing an explanation of their meaning.

The best entries selected will become the names of the two giant pandas. The deadline for submissions is October 27.

Meanwhile, the Giant Panda Painting Competition will be run in an Open Group (for Hong Kong residents), a Secondary Student Group (for Secondary 1 to Secondary 6 students) and a Primary Student Group (for Primary 1 to Primary 6 students).

Participants are welcome to depict the adorable nature of the two giant pandas with reference to their photographs and videos. The entries, which must be a hand-drawn painting with a text within 100 Chinese words explaining the message behind the painting, should be submitted between October 21 and November 8.

Results will be announced by the end of this year and winners will be notified individually by correspondence, the bureau added.