Da Tung & Xi’an Bao Bao – North Park Blocks, West Burnside and Couch Street between N.W. 8th and Park Avenues, Portland, Oregon

The North Park Blocks form a city park in downtown Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Captain John H. Couch deeded the five blocks to the city in 1865, and they were officially platted for a municipal park in 1869. An ordinance was passed in 1904, setting aside one park block for women and children. In 1906, another block was added for a children’s playground. The playground was divided into a boy’s playground and a small child and girl’s playground. Use of the North Park Blocks declined, especially as the 1924 zoning code did not preserve residential uses near them. By the 1940s, the North Park Blocks area was decidedly neglected. A problem with the homeless and aggressive panhandlers led to Daisy Kingdom and the U.S. Customs House to hire security guards, and park sprinklers were set to intermittently spray sleepers. In 1989, the problem was worse; that year the local Montessori School found drug users and discarded needles in the city playground.

In October, 2002, Chinese foundry owner Huo Baozhu gave a 12-foot bronze sculpture of elephants to Portland. The city placed them on the North Park Blocks between Burnside and Couch streets where children could interact with them. Based on a wine pitcher from the late Shang Dynasty (circa 1200-1100 BCE), this sculpture is about sixteen times larger than the original. The young elephant standing peacefully on his father’s back symbolizes safe and prosperous offspring. The elaborate surface decoration features cloud-shaped curves and birds and animals from ancient Chinese mythology. The piece is titled Da Tung & Xi’an Bao Bao. Da Tung may be translated as "universal peace" or "large bronze." Xi’an Bao Bao means "baby elephant." The sculpture was a gift to the city from Chinese businessman Huo Baozhu, whose foundry in Xi’an, China, is licensed by the national government to reproduce Chinese antiquities. Huo, who visited Portland a number of times, said he was motivated by a love of Chinese history, admiration for Portland and by a rare blood disease that he knew would be terminal.