Guardian Print Shop

Own a Guardian classic photograph: Ching Ching greets Chia Chia, 1981

This week the photograph in our weekly archive print series is one shot by Frank Martin in December 1981 of two pandas being reunited at London Zoo

In September 1974, two adolescent pandas left Beijing for Britain, a gift from Chairman Mao Zedong to the then prime minister, Edward Heath. Within three weeks of the animals’ arrival, visitor numbers to London Zoo doubled, to 16,000 a week. But despite high hopes for the pair breeding, they showed no romantic interest in one another. So, in 1981, they were separated for nine months while Chia Chia, the male (right), was ferried to Washington on an unsuccessful mating mission. The Guardian photographer Frank Martin was at London Zoo to capture the moment they were reunited at the end of the year.Words: Hannah Booth

Buy your exclusive print here

Price
£50, including free delivery

Prints
Photographs are 30x40cm and presented on museum-grade, fine-art paper stocks, with archival standards guaranteeing quality for 100+ years. All editions are printed and quality-checked by experts at theprintspace, the UK’s leading photo and fine-art print provider.

Delivery
Artworks are dispatched via Royal Mail and delivered within three to five working days. theprintspace takes great care in packaging your artwork, with a no-quibble satisfaction guarantee should you be unhappy in any way. Global shipping is available.

Contact
Email: guardianprintsales@theprintspace.co.uk