A pair of twin giant pandas spent their 10th birthday on Saturday with a lavish feast prepared by a zoo in Nanning City of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with scores of tourists expressing well wishes on their special day.
The brother and sister duo, Ji Mei and Ji Lan, were born on June 27, 2016 at a panda base in Chengdu City of southwest China's Sichuan Province and were moved to Nanning in 2019.
To ring in the big 10, the zoo treated the birthday boy and girl to giant ice cakes especially made for the sweltering summer heat. Keepers also prepared "mystery boxes" filled with bamboo shoots and other favorite panda snacks, which the twins "unboxed" with great delight. Many visitors came to the zoo early Saturday to share in the happiness of the pandas.
"I used to study in Nanning, so I knew it is their birthday today. I came over from Guangzhou yesterday just to see the giant pandas. I think they're so adorable and healing that I feel very happy when I see them," said Ms. Chen, a visitor.
Celebrity panda twins spend 10th birthday at south China zoo
China is continuing to experience a box office boom this year, driven by a nationwide campaign to spur consumption with cheaper cinema tickets while a series of big summer releases are also enticing film fans out to theaters up and down the country.
Seen as one of the most lucrative periods of the year, China's summer box office season, which officially runs from June 1 to August 31, has now generated more than 10.7 billion yuan in box office revenue as of midday Thursday.
This has helped propel China's total box office revenue for 2026 above 26.5 billion yuan (over 3.9 billion U.S. dollars) as of Thursday afternoon, with more than 670 million moviegoers and over 96 million screenings recorded, according to the latest data from a leading Chinese ticketing platform.
The diverse line-up of summer blockbusters covers a broad range of genres, including comedy, animation, sci-fi, war, and suspense and action, offering audiences more choices and helping attract viewers from different age groups and with different interests.
Among the best performers is the anti-war film "Once Upon a Time in the Middle East," which tells the story of a chef working at a Chinese restaurant in the Middle East when war breaks out in the 2000s. It has drawn positive feedback both for its perspective on war and the vivid portrayal of life in the Middle East.
In just 10 days since its release on Aug. 11, the film has raked in over 1.2 billion yuan, catapulting it up the box office charts as it closes in on the year's biggest grossing films.
Ticketing data shows that the current top four on China's annual box office chart are the auto-racing sequel "Pegasus 3", Hong Kong director Stephen Chow's sports comedy "Kung Fu Soccer" about a team of female footballers, the touching family drama "Dear You", and animated film "All Wishes Come True!"
China launched a nationwide campaign this year to boost the cinema sector, with at least 1.2 billion yuan in subsidies planned throughout 2026 to make movie-going more affordable. Data shows the average ticket price for domestic-made movies has dropped to 39.5 yuan (less than 6 U.S. dollars) this year, some 20 percent lower in 2025.
China's summer film season continues as consumption campaign entices moviegoers
