Just call this panda an ‘Atlanta Beauty’
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Children sang and performers put on a lively dance as Zoo Atlanta unveiled the name of the nation’s newest panda cub -- Mei Lan, a 12-pound baby too little to attend the hoopla.
Mei Lan, which officials said means “Atlanta Beauty,” was the most popular name in an online poll at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s website out of 10 names chosen by the zoo, media organizations and residents in China’s Sichuan Province, where the Chengdu panda refuge and breeding center is.
Chengdu Director Zhang Zhihe said the name Mei Lan (pronounced may-lan) has male overtones, which Chinese parents use for female children whom they want to step outside traditional roles for women.
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