“1600 Paper Pandas Taipei Exhibition” Sees 40 Damaged in Just 2 Days – Pandas Wear Raincoats to Stay Dry

▲ The “1600 Paper Pandas Exhibition” has been on display since today in front of Taipei City Hall Plaza. (Photo / Taken fromPaper Panda Exhibition, 1600 Pandas World Tour - Taipei Fan Page)

Tourism Center / Comprehensive Report

The “1600 Pandas World Tour – Taipei” has been on display since today in front of Taipei City Hall Plaza and will run until the 9th. There is also an interactive area where the public can hug paper pandas, but it has been reported that just two days after the exhibition opened, 40 pandas were damaged due to being accidentally dropped after being hugged. Some severely damaged ones had to be sent back to the factory for “emergency treatment.”

The whole nation is crazy for pandas. Now, you can see 1,600 pandas in various poses — and they “never sleep” — without needing a number ticket at Taipei City Hall Plaza. The spectacular sight of 1,600 paper pandas lined up in the plaza attracted 270,000 visitors on 228 Peace Memorial Day alone, all eager to take photos.

▲ To allow the public to take close-up photos with the paper pandas and paper black bears, an “experience zone” has been set up at the exhibition site for interaction. (Photo / Taken by reporter Chen Rui-zhong)

To enable the public to interact closely with the pandas, the organizers have set up an “experience zone” next to the plaza, offering oversized paper pandas, paper black bears, and other animals for photo opportunities, as well as smaller paper pandas that visitors can hug. However, according to Apple Daily, just two days after the exhibition opened, 40 pandas have suffered varying degrees of damage, with 20 of them requiring repairs back at the factory.

Organizers stated that the material of the paper pandas is quite fragile. While minor paint chipping can be fixed, significant dents or missing corners are harder to repair and may even render the pandas unusable. They remind the public to handle the pandas with care when interacting with them in the experience zone. In addition, with the weather turning bad starting the evening of the 1st, to prevent the pandas in the plaza from getting damaged by rain, some pandas have been given hats and even raincoats, creating an amusing and unique scene.