Vienna’s giant panda Yuan Yuan to celebrate 20th birthday

VIENNA- The giant panda Yuan Yuan based at the Schonbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria, is set to turn 20 years old on Friday with celebrations having already begun, according to the zoo. The zoo said Yuan Yuan has received some of his birthday gifts a day early.

While he was given many kinds of food such as bamboo shoots and corn stalks, it was bamboo bread in the shape of a cake that took his immediate interest, according to animal keeper Renate Haider, who said he ate it “to the last crumb.”

The 120-kg panda, who was brought to the zoo from his native China in April as a mate for female Yang Yang, will receive more on his actual birthday.

The zoo said Yang Yang, who has been at the zoo since 2003, had watched the festivities from her neighboring enclosure. She had herself turned 19 on Aug. 10.

The two live separately outside of mating season due to pandas being solitary animals by nature. While they are able to have some contact through the barrier between their enclosures, the zoo said the coming spring will tell if the two bond and produce new offspring.

Chinese art pieces to be featured in Christie’s Asian art week

NEW YORK-  Hundreds of Chinese art pieces including paintings, ceramics, jades, bronzes, among others, will be auctioned at Christie’s New York during its Asian art week in September, the auction house said on Thursday.

The Asian art week, which spans from Sept. 6 to Sept. 13, will present nine auctions - six live ones and three online ones - and auction more than 1,000 lots.

Two collection sales will be at the focal point, which are “masterpieces of early Chinese gold and silver” and “Chinese art from the Art Institute of Chicago.”

The auction of the “masterpieces of early Chinese gold and silver” will be held on Sept. 12, and feature over 100 exquisite gold and silver objects formerly in the collection of Dr. Johan Carl Kempe. The sale will be led by a rare large parcel-gilt silver bowl which dates back to China’s Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) and is estimated at 2-3 million U.S. dollars.

Also on Sept. 12, “Chinese art from the Art Institute of Chicago” auction will feature 84 lots with focus on Ming and Qing porcelains. Additionally, a selection of Chinese ceramics and works of art will be presented in an online sale from Sept.10 to Sept. 17.