Giant panda Xiang Xiang is a hugely popular icon among Japanese animal lovers. She was born on June 12, 2017 to mother Shin Shin and father Ri Ri through natural mating at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan.

She was a major visitor attraction after the zoo put her on public display at the age of six months when she soon became a sensation in the local community. Her cuteness won the hearts of many and greatly helped to boost sales of panda-themed souvenirs in Japan.

According to estimates by Japanese experts, Xiang Xiang has contributed at least 2.7 billion yuan (about $400 million) to Japan's economy – roughly equivalent to 1.3 times the construction cost of the landmark Tokyo Skytree.

Xiang Xiang was originally scheduled to travel back to China by the end of December 2020, but her return was postponed on multiple occasions.

Before the departure, her fans flocked to the Ueno Zoo to say their farewells. Admission to see the giant panda was limited to a preselected lottery of 2,600 entries a day. However, on her last day at the zoo, the slot proved so popular that there were around 70 times as many applicants as there were available entries.

June 12 marked the 6th birthday of Xiang Xiang. Even though she left Tokyo and returned to Sichuan on February 21, 2023, her fans gathered in Tokyo and hosted a birthday celebration to show their affection towards Xiang Xiang.

After returning to China, Xiang Xiang had since resided at the Bifengxia panda base under the care and love of staffers at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) in Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, where she is expected to mate and breed.

According to the research center, she has not been shown publicly and needs more time to adapt to the new environment. In April, the CCRCGP said on social media that Xiang Xiang is still shy with strangers, so only a few breeders were allowed to enter her territory.