Mayor Lurie is set to visit two of San Francisco’s “sister cities,” Shanghai and Seoul, later this month as part of a tour promoting tourism through SF’s arts and culture, and he said there’s been talk of bringing pandas back to the SF Zoo.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said the goal of his visit to China and South Korea, which is his first international trip since becoming San Francisco’s mayor last year, is to expand cultural ties with the city’s sister cities and bring more tourism to SF, as KGO reports.

"We are leaning into our arts and culture. We have said it's driving our economic recovery. We want to go tell our great sister cities of Shanghai and Seoul all about San Francisco," Lurie said.

The trip departs April 17, and he’ll be traveling with other prominent local business and cultural leaders, including Soyoung Lee, the director and CEO of the Asian Art Museum.

"The whole mayor's team and all of us in the arts and culture in the city are deeply committed to continuing our roles in that cultural and economic exchange," Lee said, speaking to KGO.

KGO asked Lurie if he had plans to discuss bringing giant pandas back to the SF Zoo while he’s there.

"We are in dialogue about it,” Lurie told KGO. “We are making sure our zoo is ready to host those pandas. So we'll have more conversations about that."

As SFist previously reported, former Mayor London Breed had made it part of her 2024 campaign promise to bring back pandas for a visit to the SF Zoo, and after much effort, she secured funding for a $20 million panda habitat. Then Breed lost the election six days later, which was preceded by a scathing report a month prior from a city oversight commission, and Lurie's interest reportedly appeared lukewarm at the time.

Last May, SF Zoo CEO and Executive Director Tanya Peterson told the Recreation and Park Commission that the pandas were still in fact coming to the zoo, and they were expected to arrive by April.  

Previously: No Tariffs on Endangered Species': The SF Zoo Panda Plan Is Apparently Still On

Image: SF Zoo