Visitors waiting outside the gates in the frigid early hours, people decked out in themed gear, and even some special trips from across the country: It was a celebrity welcome for Washington’s most beloved VIPs on Friday morning. Giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao made their official public debut on January 24, marking the first time visitors have been able to see pandas at the National Zoo since November 2023.
Bao Li and Qing Bao arrived in Washington on October 15, 2024, ending a nearly yearlong panda famine in DC. They’ve spent the last three months acclimating to their new environment—National Zoo director Brandie Smith points out that coming to the zoo was the first time the bears ever smelled elephants or heard a gibbon. Now that they’ve adjusted to their home, visitors can start to get to know their distinct personalities.
“Qing Bao, our girl, she’s more independent. She kind of makes us work for it. She reminds me of my daughter,” says Smith. “Bao Li, he loves his keepers. He talks to them all the time. If they’re back there working, he’s like, What are you doing? Hey, can I be involved?”

Of course, with the return of the panda’s comes the return of their adoring fans.
Stephanie Cannon from Montgomery County arrived around 7:30 AM. She came with her boyfriend, but he had to take a work call in the car—and she had to see the pandas. “I’ve loved them since I was a kid, I’ve been coming here my whole life,” says Cannon. “As soon as they announced they were coming back, I knew I was coming. I bought my parking pass over a month ago.”
Today is a family affair for Rhys Price, who voyaged from Alexandria with her fiancée and two kids. Even the cold wasn’t going to stop them from being here: In fact, she told the kids to don snow pants if needed. Price refers to the panda habitat as her child’s “happy place.” (Among their Christmas gifts this year? A panda mascot head.)

Despite the early hour and brisk temperatures, panda lovers trekked to the zoo from near and far. Jennifer and Tommy Zickel drove an hour and half from Winchester to be there, with Tommy donning a panda sweater his grandma got him in China and a panda hat. “A year ago we saw them fly off, so we wanted to be the first people to see them again,” says Tommy. His favorite thing about the pandas? “They’re fuzzy, they’re cute, and the black and white stripes.”

Some panda-heads came from even further. Lisa Barnham and her son traveled from Cleveland with one mission in mind: Greet the new pandas. The pair woke up at 4 AM this morning so they could be outside the Zoo at 5:30 AM, hoping to be among the first to get a glimpse at the bears.

For DC’s youngest residents, meeting the pandas was an initiation of sorts into a canonical Washingtonian experience. Many people who grew up visiting the pandas were able to bring the youngest members of their families to share that panda connection. “People tie them to their personal memories,” says Zoo director Smith.
Dressed in a panda pramsuit, three-month-old Erin Alice Marz-Thompson has never lived in a Washington where she could see pandas at the zoo, but that changed today. “We’ve been in DC for 15 years, and the zoo is pretty important to us, so we wanted her to be here to be able to celebrate and be here for the opening day,” says mom Brendan Thompson. Capitol Hill residents Ellie Mueller and Arielle Brown brought their 21-month-old niece Meredith. She’s been singing “pandas, pandas” to the tune of “Clean Up Song,” and pandas are her favorite animal, just like her aunt’s when she was younger.

Ultimately, those moments are what the pandas are all about for Winchester’s Jennifer Zickels: “It really brings people together—that’s the biggest part.”