Ling2 and Hsing2

The People's Republic of China clearly won a battle of images in its first exchange of permanent representatives with the U.S. Installed in the Peking zoo were Milton and Matilda, two woebegone musk oxen that arrived with scraggly coats and postnasal drip brought on by the climate change and general cultural shock. Last week, the Chinese part of the exchange, the giant pandas Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing (pronounced Shing-Shing), took up residence at the National Zoological Park in Washington, where they were welcomed by Pat Nixon. Still too young to mate, they will live in separate air-conditioned suites, each with a 1,000-sq. ft. living room furnished with bamboo trees and plate-glass picture windows and each with a private den to escape from tourists.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.