German Famous Rock-and-Roll Star Volunteered to Rear a Panda

At the invitation of the Sichuan Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (SIFA)， Peter Maffay， German famous rock-and-roll star， and his party visited Sichuan from June 11 to 14， and donated 150，000 RMB yuan to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and volunteered to rear a one and half years old female panda named Lilly by him.

Born in Romania， Maffay grew up in Germany and became a very popular rock-and-roll singer in Germany 30 years ago. He has won various music awards. His latest album published in 2005， Laut und Leise (meaning “noisy and quiet”) remained the best seller for several weeks. To repay society， Maffay has established a foundation which focuses on the movement for peace， environmental protection， helping children in poverty and other causes of public good.

On June 12， the SIFA held a ceremony for his offer to rear the panda at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding， at which Maffay said， “Although I can not do very much， I really hope to try my best to do something for the pandas. I will include them into my music of the coming albums.”

Maffay watched the documentary about how a panda was born and brought up and their living environment. He also had a photo taken with Jingjing， the panda of the five 2008 Olympic mascots. He said， he would make his Lilly a princess and a star in Germany.

Maffay paid a visit to the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and had a discussion with teachers and students of the Popular Music School of the conservatory. He believed music is the best language of human beings for it transcends national boundaries. He said， panda is faced with extinction in the world and needs special protection like kids. For peace， for the poor children in the world， he would use music as beautiful poetry to awaken people in the world to care for and help the children， he said.