Cute Brands Trip to Washington D.C.!

Chief Creative Optimist Liu-Yue (Louie) Lam returned to Washington D.C. with his wife Claudia Lam (me) to sponsor the 2012 Alumni Reunion at his MBA school Georgetown University. Cute Brands was a corporate sponsor and donated T-shirts, tote bags and pins based on our character designs to the participants of the reunion. The items were distributed during a relaxed family picnic which featured class-mates and their kids. Good food, face painting, and a lot of gifts made the perfect atmosphere to enjoy some quality family time.

On our last full day in the city, we headed to the National Zoological Park up in the northwest outskirts of Washington. The subway made the journey easy! We loved that Washington, D.C. Metro fare cards incorporates a cute panda design. The pandas on metro tickets in Washington DC are to commemorate the pandas at the National Zoo.

The National Zoo in Washington, D.C.  is one of the most beautiful zoos in the world. The exhibit Asia Trail features state of the art exhibits for sloth bears, clouded leopards, red pandas, a Japanese giant salamander and of course, the Giant Pandas. What made this zoo especially amazing to us was the presence of the two Giant Pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian.  Endless lines of people from all over the world spent 3-4 hours waiting for the pandas to come out and play. The panda fans were like paparazzi and the pandas were the celebrities.

Mei Xiang and Tian Tian came to the National Zoo from the China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan, China, as part of a collaborative agreement between the zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association. The National Zoo donated $10 million dollars to the CWCA toward funding research and preservation of China's wild panda habitat. In exchange, zoo researchers get to care for Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and share their findings with other scientists in China and the United States. Mei Xiang and Tian Tian welcomed a panda cub — Tai Shan — in July of 2005.

Here are a some fun facts about their personalities and how to tell them apart:

Mei Xiang --> NAME: Mei Xiang (pronounced may-SHONG) means "beautiful fragrance", GENDER: Female,

BIRTHDAY: July 22, 1998. Mei Xiang, the feminine half of Washington's panda power couple, has been described as tentative, taking care to investigate new environments and situations. When she first arrived at the National Zoo, she took her time before entering her enclosure. Smaller in stature than Tian Tian, Mei Xiang has distinctive markings, making her easy to spot. She wears black "stockings" that end at her hips; a black band across her shoulders that widens in the middle; and a faint black bar across the bridge of her nose and what helps me distinguish the two are the eyes: her eye patches are oval. Although a little hesitant around new people and surroundings, Mei Xiang has no problem swiping food from her panda pal, Tian Tian. From our observations Mei Xiang was indeed a little bit shy, she ate with her back facing towards the people, but Mei Xiang was the funniest because after she ate, turned around for few pictures for the panda paparazzi and after a zip of water she fell asleep instantly on her full belly. Check the BEFORE and AFTER pictures. It took her few seconds to do the transition from one state to another.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Tian Tian --> NAME: Tian Tian (pronounced t-YEN t-YEN) means "more and more", GENDER: Male, BIRTHDAY: Aug. 27, 1997

Tian Tian has made himself known as the bolder of the two pandas, walking right into the panda enclosure the night of his arrival and sitting front and center, munching biscuits, before the crowds during his and Mei Xiang's unveiling at the zoo. He is said to be more drawn to people and more food-motivated. Tian Tian also has distinctive markings: eye patches like kidney beans, two faint black dots across the bridge of his nose, he sports black "knee socks"; a black band across his shoulders that narrows in the middle. At his birthplace in China, he was known as an escape artist, adept at finding ways out of his enclosure. Tian Tian was definitely less shy than Mei Xian and more and more camera ready! I could capture an awesome video of his eating technique. Please check out our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/CuteBrands

Tian Tian loves attention and to be admired. He is a star, a very handsome panda:

The pandas at the Washington D.C. Zoo made our day and the trip so much worth it. We were thinking that a Giant Panda reclining peacefully eating bamboo is one of the world's most adored and protected rare animals. A grown panda spends ten to twelve hours a day eating, and they eat almost nothing but bamboo. Their jaw muscles, large molars and round face are an adaptation to a bamboo diet. We filmed them and took many pictures, they are fascinating and unique! Time just flew by and we still would have liked to spend more time with them. In ancient China, pandas were thought to be rare, noble creatures and a sign of goodwill and we can clearly see why. It was believed to have magical powers that could ward off natural disasters and evil spirits, that’s why with our Love Panda we want to use the panda powers to bring smiles on people’s faces, create magical friendships, and make them Cute and Happy like a panda!

Hugs and kisses,

Cute Brands Team