may panda has a first name, it’s m-e-i
atlanta, your favorite non-human citizen now has a name. today at zoo atlanta our furry baby panda was given the name “mei lan” which in Chinese apparently means atlanta beauty (see ajc here.)
according to the ajc article, “mei lan” was the clear winner edging out chinese names for little peach and beautiful peach. i guess its nice that the panda gets a chinese name, but i can’t help but wonder what atlantans would have named the panda if they hadn’t been constrained to 6 choices all in chinese.
ron mexico, maybe*?
anyway, our baby panda now has a name so now instead of ooohhhh and aaahing over the ‘cute panda thing,’ you can ooooh and aaaaah for mei lan, who by the way took her first steps yesterday according to the ajc.
