Dutch zoo is ready for pandas' arrival

Robin de Lange, the Ouwehands Zoo director in the Netherlands, presents a photo of panda house designed by Chinese and Dutch architects. [Photo by Fu Jing/ China Daily]

To achieve so, his team has visited all of the panda houses in Europe and studied typical China town buildings to make the Dutch one "attractive, unique and Chinese."

Designed by Chinese and Dutch architects, the panda house, covering three hectares, has already taken shape, with similarities to the main building of the Forbidden City in Beijing.

It consists of two buildings, with female panda staying in a bigger one. "We have spared some space for the baby panda," says de Lange, with a smile..

Right now, all the structures of the buildings, supplied by the Dutch, are almost finished. De Lange says the Chinese partner is responsible for roofs, windows, doors and other details, to the home of the pandas traditionally Chinese.

"I like pandas and also like spicy Sichuan food," he adds.

In the panda house, the animals will live on the ground floor, and de Lange has planned that a restaurant and shops could be opened above.

"For many Dutch people, China is still faraway and we hope pandas, the buildings and the atmosphere here could make it closer to us," says de Lange, who himself has visited China for more than twenty times.