GUANGZHOU - Twelve giant pandas, which are predicting the results of the Asian Games' competitions, have become major attractions at the Xiangjiang Safari Park in Guangzhou's Panyu district.

The pandas draw many curious onlookers when they start 'predicting' results, with the help of the park's animal keepers.

However, the pandas have been unable to emulate the feats of Paul the Octopus, who correctly predicted World Cup soccer results earlier this year. The pandas have tended to favor Chinese athletes.

Before the opening ceremony, Panda Bo Si was asked to predict the winner of the Games' first gold medal, with a bamboo shoot representing a Chinese winner and an apple for an overseas winner.

Yuan Xiaochao, the Chinese wushu expert, won the games' first gold medal on Friday.

Bo Si picked the bamboo shoot, leading some cynics to suggest the result was predictable and the experiment poorly thought out as pandas exist on a bamboo diet.

However, Huihui suprised onlookers by picking a red rocking horse representing China's Zhang Lin when asked to "name" the winner of the men's 200 freestyle on Sunday. Republic of Korea's Park Tae-hwan, represented by a green toy the panda ignored, went on to win the event.

"The pandas are expected to help the park attract more tourists during the Asian Games," said a park staff member.

Chen Wenzhi, a white-collar worker, said she would definitely bring her seven-year-old daughter to see the pandas make their picks.

"The pandas are really cute," Chen told China Daily.

All the pandas, including six babies, arrived in Guangzhou on Oct 28 from Sichuan province.

They have formed an "Asian Games Panda Group" to spread luck and happiness.

China Daily

(China Daily 11/16/2010)