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Panda Express Rings in Chinese New Year with Guest-driven “Celebrate Togetherness” Campaign

America’s favorite Chinese Kitchen brings to life culturally inspired traditions through new website and special promotions

ROSEMEAD, CALIF. (Jan. 26, 2016) – As America’s favorite Chinese Kitchen, Panda Express invites everyone to join its 2016 Chinese New Year celebration and to learn about the culturally significant holiday observed by more than one-third of the world’s population.

Known as the Year of the Monkey, Feb. 8 marks the first day of the Chinese New Year and Panda’s “Celebrate Togetherness” campaign honors the history and traditions long observed within the Chinese culture. The New Year is a time for families to reunite and pause to share a moment of togetherness with loved ones – universal actions that Panda Express hopes to inspire through its campaign.

“Chinese New Year is a celebration of family togetherness, delicious food and good fortune – values in which everyone can relate,” said Peggy Cherng, co-chair and co-CEO of Panda Express. “As a family owned company, this holiday represents our cultural roots and reflects a major part of our company’s brand identity. Our Panda family looks forward to this yearly celebration as an opportunity to share our rich traditions and heritage with our guests.”

To help guests learn about the holiday and share in the traditions, Panda Express created an interactive website, CelebrateCNY.com, featuring an animated video about the 15-day festival, activities for kids and special classroom curriculum for teachers. To date, more than 6 million students have learned about Chinese New Year through Panda’s educational materials.

Other site features include an app that helps visitors send New Year’s greetings through virtual red envelopes, a guide to help guests find their Chinese zodiac signs and information on special in-store offers for Feb. 8. 

With more than 1,900 restaurant locations around the world, Panda Express is planning one of the largest Chinese New Year celebrations in the world. Special traditions returning to Panda Express include:

- Firecracker Chicken – Available now for a limited time, Panda’s Firecracker Chicken is a celebratory dish symbolizing the fireworks believed to ward off bad luck in Chinese culture

- Free Gold Bar* – All guests can receive a coupon for a free Gold Bar (Chicken Egg Roll), a traditional dish and Chinese symbol for wealth, that can be downloaded at www.CelebrateCNY.comor sent to friends via a virtual red envelope and redeemed on Feb. 8

- Red Envelope (hong bao) – Red envelopes are given to loved ones with a gift tucked inside to symbolize good luck for the New Year. Guests who visit any Panda Express on Feb. 8 will receive a red envelope containing a coupon for a free Firecracker Chicken entree and a drink redeemable during a future visit

In addition, Panda Express has partnered with ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat” to raise awareness of Chinese New Year and encourage viewers and guests alike to join the celebration. Panda Express restaurants across the country will display specially branded “Fresh Off the Boat” Chinese New Year posters and table tents featuring the Huangs. To see how the Huang family celebrates Chinese New Year, viewers can watch “Fresh Off the Boat” when it returns with an all-new episode on Feb. 2.

For more information on Panda Express and Chinese New Year traditions, visit www.CelebrateCNY.com. For media inquiries, contact panda@havasformula.com. Follow Panda Express on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and join the conversation using #CelebrateCNY.

About Panda Express

Panda Express, America’s favorite Chinese kitchen, is best known for its wide variety of original recipes including its Original Orange Chicken™, SweetFire Chicken Breast®, award-winning Honey Walnut Shrimp™ and Shanghai Angus Steak™. Founded in 1983 and now with more than 1,900 locations throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam, Canada, Mexico, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Korea, Panda Express is part of the family owned and operated Panda Restaurant Group, the world leader in Asian dining experiences that also includes Panda Inn and Hibachi-San. For more information, visit www.pandaexpress.com, or follow on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram

*Free Gold Bar refers to one Chicken Egg Roll