'Pandaplomacy': Chinese giant pandas Qing Bao and Bao Li land in Washington, DC
The "ambassador-animals" Bao Li and Qing Bao are on loan from the Chinese government for 10 years. They will be at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington.
Giant panda Qing Bao
Giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao arrived Tuesday at Washington Dulles International Airport from China's Sichuan province.
The pair have been loaned to the Smithsonian's National Zoo for 10 years by the Chinese government in exchange for a $1 million annual fee.
The 3-year-old mammals traveled in a conditioned FedEx plane, christened "Panda Express." Coming with them were a team of veterinarians and a sufficient supply of bamboo.
Bao Li and Qing Bao will now have to spend a few weeks to acclimate at the Washington Zoo, which remained closed Tuesday to prepare for their arrival. After that, the gates will be opened to the American public.
Pandas as 'ambassadors'
The shipment is an informal part of China's diplomatic apparatus, whose government sends pandas to different countries as a sign of goodwill. However, along with sending them, it has also taken them away. In November 2023, the last giant pandas left the U.S. capital on their way to Asia.
The empty cages were then interpreted as a sign of growing bilateral tension. In May of this year, Xi Jinping announced the shipment of two more panda bears.
The first pair of pandas was received by the United States after President Richard Nixon visited Mao Zedong's China in 1972. According to what transcended then, First Lady Patricia Nixon expressed an affinity for the pandas to Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, who responded by flying out two as a gesture of goodwill.
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