50 years of giant pandas' presence in US celebrated

In 1972, then-US president Richard Nixon and first lady Pat Nixon made a historic visit to China. The first lady went to the Beijing Zoo to visit pandas on their second day in China.

At a dinner before they left China, Premier Zhou Enlai told Pat Nixon that China would present the US with two pandas, which surprised and delighted her.

The two pandas, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing, lived at the national zoo for more than 20 years. Their arrival not only brought warmth and joy to tens of millions of Americans but also launched the US-China giant panda program.

Now the panda couple, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, and their cub Xiao Qi Ji ("little miracle"), born in August 2020, live at the national zoo.

Mei Xiang and Tian Tian's other three cubs, Tai Shan, born in 2005; Bao Bao, born in 2013; and Bei Bei, born in 2015, were returned to China.

Smith recalled that the males, Bei Bei and Xiao Qi Ji are "more outgoing" than their brother Tai Shan.

"I met these pandas; I know them so well, I remember the moments all of the cubs were born here. And one thing is that we know when they are born that they're going to go to China to be part of the group breeding program," she said.

"So it's almost like any baby. When any baby grows up, you don't want them to stay with you if you want them to go out and to succeed, and so our cubs will go to China, and they will have their cubs and help contribute to the conservation of the species."