Panda-monium

Last month, our DCist colleagues celebrated the “one year of cuteness” for a panda named Butterstick (aka Taishan). Not to be outdone here in the mother country, though perhaps with a little less fanfare, Shanghaiist brings you a panda story of our own, about a week-old, unnamed female cub. (We shall call her Butterball.)

While pandas are just as much adored here as they are the whole world over, the birth of a baby panda in China isn’t quite as monumental an event as it is overseas. Our little bundle of joy is of course extra extraordinary -- every panda is special. Butterball, currently weighing 225 grams is the fourth and only surviving cub of her mother Eryatou/二丫头, meaning “second girl”. To raise public awareness for panda protection and give the whole world a glimpse of goings-on around Butterball, the Chendu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center, where the cub was born, is putting up a blog for her. The site, titled “Panda Cub’s Little Nest/熊猫仔仔的小窝” is written from Butterball’s perspective. Zhong Wen, a reporter for Chengdu Daily who has covered panda news for five years, is the brain behind the operation. The blogsite is hosted by Sina.com and is available here, but in Chinese, as one would expect -- all pandas speak Chinese (don't forget that). Some of the entries so far have include “The birthing process” and “Life with mama bear”. Very cute indeed.

The site is also collecting suggestions for the cub’s name. We of course have already put in our submission, and our fingers are crossed.

More info is available on Xinhuanet.com.