A panda celebrated her 21st birthday with a vegetable and ice cake at a zoo in Thailand.

Footage shows female panda Lin Hui - gifted from China - inside her enclosure as she sniffed around her treats made of carrots, potatoes, and apples in Chiang Mai Zoo on September 28.

Zoo staff also prepared a colourful shaved ice cake for her with a topper that says '21' and gave special cupcakes with panda faces to students who visited the facility that day.

The special event was attended by Chinese diplomats and local officials to wish the creature their greetings.

Zoo director Wutthichai Muangmun said: ‘Lin Hui is very healthy and is being taken care of by professionals under the China Wildlife Conservation Association standards.'

China's Vice Consul in Chiang Mai General Yang Jiong attended the event to wish the panda Happy Birthday as well as state the strong diplomatic bonds between China and Thailand.

Her birthday present from the diplomat was a basket full of her favourite fruits and vegetables, such as apples, carrots, and bamboo shoots, as well as her newly renovated and expanded show room.

Lin Hui was also had children visitors who ate cupcakes together with her.

The birthday girl was sent to Thailand in 2003 along with her partner Chuang Chuang as a symbol of friendship and goodwill from the Chinese government.

Panda diplomacy is the practice of sending gigantic pandas from China to other countries as a diplomatic instrument, with a history dating back to 700AD.

Especially during the Cold War, Mao Zedong sent two pandas to an American zoo. In exchange, Richard Nixon gave the Chinese two musk oxen. The reciprocal presents exemplified China and the United States' growing diplomatic ties at the time.