What to Know About the Two Adorable Giant Pandas Now Heading to Washington, D.C. From China

For the first time in more than two decades, giant pandas are making a long journey from China to Washington, D.C.

Two of the iconic, black-and-white creatures—a male named Bao Li and a female called Qing Bao—are officially on their way to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, according to the government-run China Wildlife Conservation Association.

On Monday evening local time, the 3-year-old giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) departed the research center in Dujiangyan City, Sichuan, in southwest China, reports CNN’s Nectar Gan. Caretakers situated the bears in transport crates, then loaded them onto trucks. The bears were given a warm send-off, with staff members cheering and waving banners as the trucks left the facility.

Bao Li was “calm and composed as he slowly paced around the crate,” writes Gan. Qing Bao, meanwhile, was “more restless.”

“She stood up and stuck her snout and paws out through the bars as her crate was forklifted onto the truck,” Gan writes.

The trucks ferried the animals to a chartered plane stocked with their favorite foods—corn buns, bamboo shoots and carrots—as well as water and medicine for the flight to the American capital. The aircraft, nicknamed the “Panda Express,” is a FedEx Boeing 777 cargo jet.

Mariel Lally, a panda caretaker at the National Zoo, flew to China nearly two weeks ago to get to know Bao Li and Qing Bao and join them on their journey over the Pacific Ocean. Two other panda experts from the National Zoo are also accompanying the bears on the trip.

The bears have been in quarantine since September 13; more recently, they’ve been getting comfortable with their crates.

“They go in there, they get their favorite treats, and it’s actually difficult to get them out of it,” Lally tells CNN. “They’re really comfortable in there, and the crates are humongous. They could lay down in either direction, stand up, do a cartwheel—you name it, there’s so much space.”

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For security reasons, authorities haven’t revealed much about the bears’ arrival in the U.S. But the “Panda Express” will likely land at Dulles International Airport, where a police escort will probably be waiting to take the bears to the National Zoo, report the Washington Post’s Michael E. Ruane and Lyric Li

Once the pandas arrive in America, they’ll head to newly renovated digs at the National Zoo. Staff have been refreshing the giant panda exhibit in anticipation of Bao Li and Qing Bao’s arrival, with upgrades like fresh sod, murals depicting mountains, a panda hammock, black locust climbing structures and 40 Giant Panda Cam cameras, per the Washington Post. Crews also outfitted the space with taller fences, a better air conditioning system and new viewing glass. 

China has agreed to loan Bao Li and Qing Bao to the National Zoo for the next decade, in exchange for $1 million per year to help fund animal research and conservation efforts in China.

“When the pandas arrive here, they'll have to get into quarantine and acclimation,” said Brandie Smith, the Zoo's director, in an interview with Smithsonian magazine in May, after which they'll debut to the public. “The pandas are going to tell us when they're ready to meet their adoring public.” That will likely take a number of weeks.

According to James Steeil, a veterinarian with the Zoo, the quarantine provides the opportunity to “check them over. Make sure they have no infectious disease, concerns or anything like that. We look at their feces, we look at their nutrition and get them acclimated to us and our routines.”

“During that time, our staff is just beginning, to know them and their personalities, getting them to sort of work with and trust us, and also getting them to learn the exhibit and all the ins and outs,” said Laurie Thompson, an assistant curator for pandas at the Zoo.” Bao Li is the son of Bao Bao, a panda born at the National Zoo in 2013, and Thompson is curious to see if Bao Li is anything like his mother. “I'm most looking forward to definitely just working one-on-one with them getting to learn their personalities,” she said.

The staff already have some idea of what to expect. Steeil journeyed to China on an initial trip to meet the pandas earlier this year. “Bao Li has a quite a personality. He's very personable. He's very interactive with guests. He likes to roll around. He likes to play and Qing Bao is also equally delightful,” said Steeil. “She's very active and she likes to move around. She really enjoys carrots.”

Bao Li and Qing Bao are the latest in a long line of animals to be offered up under China’s decades-long tradition of “panda diplomacy.” China gifted the first pandas to the U.S. in 1972 during Richard Nixon’s presidency. For decades, China continued lending giant pandas to zoos around the country, not only as a symbol of friendship between the two nations, but also to help save the slow-to-reproduce creatures from extinction.

Roughly 1,200 pandas lived in the wild in the 1980s. Today, the population has grown to more than 1,800, plus another 600 living in captivity.

The National Zoo bid farewell to its last remaining giant pandas—Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and Xiao Qi Ji—in November 2023. Zoo Atlanta sent back its four giant pandas just this past weekend, on what was likely the first leg of a round-trip journey that includes bringing Bao Li and Qing Bao to Washington, D.C.

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But, in February 2024, “panda diplomacy” got a boost when the China Wildlife Conservation Association revealed plans to send two giant pandas to the San Diego Zoo. And, in May, the National Zoo announced that it would soon be welcoming two new giant pandas.

Two bears, Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, arrived in California in late June—the first giant pandas to enter the U.S. in 21 years. Now, Bao Li and Qing Bao are following in their paw-steps.

“There are pandas in other zoos around the world, but they are iconic with the National Zoo,” said Smith. “They have a special meaning here.”

Sarah Kuta | READ MORE

Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.