Australian pavilion mascot now named Peng Peng

Remember that Kookaburra naming contest we told you about that the Australian Pavilion was holding? Someone won it. Haibao's new BFF from Down Under is now called Peng Peng (鹏鹏).

According to the Australian Pavilion's press release:

Commissioner General for the Australian pavilion, Peter Tesch, said, "We feel that this is a very suitable name for our mascot."

"The character Peng evokes a sentiment of glory and ambition in Chinese and is indicative of our desire for a successful Expo. The name Peng Peng also means friendship and as such conveys the deep people to people and business links that exist between Australia and China."

"I understand that the character Peng is a distinctly Chinese name dating back to a mythological bird in Zhuang Zi's, literary piece, Xiao Yao You. As such Peng is particularly apt as the kookaburra is a native Australian bird", Tesch said.

Over 2,800 names were entered into the competition, and the winning name was chosen on Sina.com. The person who coined Peng Peng gets a week-long Australian holiday for three people with their winnings, as well as $2000 AUD.

AND Haibao gets a little less lonely. Don't front, we knew he was blue for a reason.