It’s actually happening: The National Zoo’s giant pandas are departing DC on November 8. They leave behind a city without pandas for the first time in 23 years.
Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and Xiao Qi Ji will ride in FedEx trucks from the zoo to Dulles Airport, where they will board the “Panda Express” for a 19-hour flight to their new home in Chengdu, China. The pandas will fly with plenty of snacks, including 300 pounds of bamboo, and the bears’ favorite treats: sugar cane for Tian Tian, pears for Mei Xiang, and cooked squash for baby Xiao Qi Ji. The trio join a cohort of National Zoo pandas who have left DC for China—Tian Tian and Mei Xiang’s other offspring, Tai Shan, Bao Bao, and Bei Bei.
The first pandas to live at the zoo were Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, a gift from Zhou Enlai to Richard Nixon following the president’s visit to China in 1972. The pair passed away before the new millennium, and Tian Tian and Mei Xiang have been the zoo’s most famous residents since they arrived in December 2000. The parents—and the city—welcomed Xiao Qi Ji into their family in August 2020.
No plans have been announced to bring more pandas to Washington.
Daniella Byck joined Washingtonian in 2022. She was previously with Outside Magazine and lives in Northeast DC.
