List of Kung Fu Panda Characters - Allies - Mr. Ping

Mr. Ping is Po's adoptive father, who runs the most popular noodle shop in the Valley. He considers his work deeply fulfilling, and hopes that his son will continue to operate the shop, wishing to share with him the family's secret recipe to great noodles (which was passed down to him from his father who took it from Mr. Ping's grandfather, who won it from a friend in a game of mahjong). When he believes his son is ready, he informs him that there is actually no secret ingredient, and that things are special if someone believes them to be. This piece of advice leads Po to understand the cryptic message of the Dragon Scroll, which makes him the Dragon Warrior and allows him to fulfill his destiny.

Po and his father share a deep mutual love and respect. This shows in how Po cannot bear to disappoint his father about his differing ambitions while Mr. Ping respects his son's decisions enough to neither protest nor interfere after the panda is dubbed the Dragon Warrior. At Po's triumph over Tai Lung, all of Mr. Ping's doubts of his son's destiny vanish as he proclaims his pride in Po to the world as they embrace.

Furthermore, the end credit graphics indicate that Po keeps closely in touch with his father such as continuing to work at the restaurant. In addition, Ping establishes a friendship with the panda's other father figure and master, Shifu. He is extremely skilled at Chinese chess as shown when he outwits Shifu in a match.

However, the Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special shows that Mr. Ping harbors a deep-seated anxiety of Po leaving him in his nightmares. In addition, Ping finds the conflict of his priorities with his son's responsibilities as the Dragon Warrior deeply upsetting, especially since Master Shifu is prone to imperiously draw Po away on these matters at will. This comes to a head when Po is tasked to host the Winter Festival banquet for the Masters, which takes place at the same night as their traditional dinner at the restaurant. Although Po offers to give his father the high honor of cooking for the formal banquet, Ping stubbornly insists that he cannot close the restaurant for that night and forsake the lonely (and profitable) clientele who have nowhere else to celebrate the holiday. As a result, both father and son struggle in their separate culinary tasks, until Po decides he should be with his father and leaves the banquet early. In turn, Mr. Ping, who was struggling with his own preparations at this time, confesses that he was unfair to Po and concedes his larger duties with his martial arts calling. Regardless, the reunited family creates a successful event at the restaurant that not only pleases their usual customers, but also the visiting kung fu masters, who decide to come themselves out of admiration of Po's loyalty and the relaxed atmosphere. As the second feature film indicates, he was then able to accept his son's subsequent departure to follow his calling with some peace, though like any parent, he still worries for his son's safety.

In Kung Fu Panda 2, it was revealed that one day, while gathering the new shipments of vegetables he ordered, Mr. Ping found a baby panda in one of the shipment's radish crates (with the shipment of radishes being eaten). Surprised, he looked around and waited for someone to come find the infant. When no one came, he decided to keep the child until someone came looking for him. Quickly finding out that the infant was too big and heavy to carry in, he led him inside with a trail of vegetables. He bathed him, fed him, and nurtured him until one day, he came to realize that no one was coming for the child. He then made two life-altering decisions: He would never use radishes for noodle soup, and he would keep the child as his own son. It is assumed that around this point, Mr. Ping named the baby panda Po.

Mr. Ping is also shown to be a shrewd, if a bit opportunistic, businessman, despite seeming silly other times. For instance, he has renamed his restaurant as "Mr. Ping's Dragon Warrior Noodles and Tofu" (ironically, in the first film Mr. Ping mentioned he once dreamt of running away to make tofu, though he dismissed it as a "stupid dream") with Po's belongings put on display. When Po comes to visit, he cries, "In honor of my son, free tofu dessert for everybody," only to add "with purchases," which causes his customers to groan and appreciates hosting a feast for Winter Festival not only for giving comfort to the lonely, but also being able to charge a premium doing so. When Po returns from Gongmen City, Mr. Ping also shows him the posters he made advertising "My Son Saved China-- You Too Can Save ! Buy 1 Dumpling, Get 1 Free"

From a behind-the-scenes featurette on the first Kung Fu Panda movie DVD, the filmmakers reveal that (when hearing about James Hong's father having a noodle shop) they brought this to his character Mr. Ping. James Hong is the only voice actor to reprise his role as Mr. Ping in the films, TV series, and video games.