China Rolls Out Panda Welcome Mat

Published on February 7, 2010 by brooks | This story has been viewed 64 times

(CHENGDU, China) — An elaborate welcome was ready Friday for two American-born giant pandas arriving at their new China home after a tearful send-off in Washington by adoring crowds.

Mei Lan and Tai Shan, carried in crates in a special cargo jet, were on their way to China for a special breeding mission in efforts to keep the well-loved but endangered species going.

The 3-year-old Mei Lan from Zoo Atlanta whirled and paced in her crate during the send-off, which was covered live on U.S. television. Tai Shan, a 4 1/2-year-old born in Washington, shyly ate a last-minute snack of apples and pears from the hands of his longtime keepers.

Millions of people fell in love with the pandas as star attractions in zoo exhibits and by watching them grow up via online panda cams.

China has long used pandas as a friendly gesture in diplomacy, and they may be China’s most compelling ambassadors as the country clashes with the U.S. on many issues, including trade, human rights and Internet security.

Tai Shan’s departure gave diplomats a rare moment of harmony.

“He is a tangible, and furry, manifestation of cooperation between the United States and China,” U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Thursday.

Xie Feng, minister of the Chinese Embassy, said Tai Shan “has grown up with the blessing, love and care of the American people.”

“He has now grown into a handsome young man, and it’s time for him to go home,” he said.

The first panda couple at the National Zoo, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, arrived in 1972 as a gift to the U.S. people after President Richard Nixon’s historic visit.

None of their five cubs survived. That’s partly why Tai Shan, the first cub to grow up in the U.S. capital, is so adored.

China lent Tai Shan’s and Mei Lan’s parents to U.S. zoos for conservation and breeding. The young pandas will become part of a breeding program in their endangered species’ native land. About 1,600 giant pandas live in the wild, and another 290 are in captive-breeding programs worldwide, mainly in China.

Associated Press writer Brett Zongker in Washington contributed to this report.

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