Asia-Pacific Quick Takes: Shanghai Disney Resort Honors Medical Workers; Australian Aquarium Hires Diver to Entertain Grouper

Shanghai Disney Resort Honors Medical Workers

Using music and languages from across the globe, the Shanghai Disney Resort projected a resounding “Xie Xie,” meaning “thank you,” onto the Enchanted Storybook Castle to thank the medical workers who have been the front-line defense against the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Every step we take, brings a new hope, a new day…” writes Disney Parks Editorial Content Director Thomas Smith, taking a quote from Walt Disney World Resort’s “Happily Ever After” fireworks show. “We hope it serves as an inspiration to you, as does for us, during this uncertain time.”

Disney properties in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, Orlando, Anaheim, and Hawaii joined the opportunity to share gratitude using the hashtag #DisneyMagicMoments, which was shared across the company’s social media platforms. 

Shanghai Disney Resort officials say they are planning further initiatives to recognize and celebrate medical professionals who helped make the resort’s May reopening possible.

Australian Aquarium Hires Extra Diver to Entertain Grouper

Chang—a giant, teenage Queensland grouper at the Cairns Aquarium in Cairns, Australia—apparently missed visitors so much during the COVID-19 lockdown when the aquarium was closed that his keepers say he started sulking. To lift Chang’s spirits, the Cairns Aquarium hired an additional diver to interact with him. It worked. Chang soon began approaching divers and following them around his habitat. When news spread that Chang missed aquarium guests, children in Australia started writing letters and drawing pictures for the grouper. Other fish appreciated the extra attention as well.

“We’ve got these leopard sharks, and they almost like being held or cuddled like puppy dogs,” Daniel Leipnik, Cairns Aquarium’s chief executive, shared in an interview with the Australian Associated Press. “There’s a bit more human contact going on, just to create that extra stimulation.”

In the weeks prior to reopening, aquarium staff planned to take their lunch breaks near the windows looking into habits to reacclimate the aquarium’s animals to people.