The end of panda diplomacy

After 23 years, the beloved giant pandas known as Mei Xiang and Tian Tian – along with their three-year-old cub named Xiao Qi Ji – have left the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC and returned to China.

The departure of the Chinese pandas had all the pomp and circumstance accorded to dignitaries, with speeches from the Smithsonian National Zoo director Brandie Smith and Chinese Foreign Minister Xu Xueyuan to mark the occasion. The pandas were coaxed inside their individual special metal crates and loaded on FedEx vans decorated with the furry black-and-white panda face. The whole departure resembled a motorcade complete with police escorts, waving crowds of bystanders (some of whom have driven for hours and traveled from other states) and teams of journalists following along until the pandas arrived at Dulles International Airport and boarded the FedEx Express Boeing 777F named the “Panda Express” for the flight to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Sichuan, China.

It took weeks of practice for the pandas to enter the crates and get used to them, and accompanying the bears on the special flight were National Zoo animal care experts including veterinarians, with the aircraft loaded with about 220 pounds of bamboo, water, biscuits, sugarcane, vegetables and fruits like pears and apples for the 19-hour flight with one quick fuel stop in Alaska.

Mei Xiang and Tian Tian arrived in 2000 as part of a 10-year “loan” agreement between the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, and the China Wildlife Conservation Association for a research and breeding program. The agreement, which was extended a couple of times over the years, was supposed to end this December but zoo officials say the age of the adult pandas necessitated the early return to China.

Americans are known for being animal lovers and so many have become emotionally attached to the pandas, who are also regarded as spirit animals that symbolize luck, peace and positivity. In fact, many – kids and adults alike – were unashamedly crying as they bade farewell to the three pandas, saying they will miss the animals, especially the young cub Xiao Qi Ji, whose cute antics were