Society

Americans longing for panda Tai Shan show

By Tan Yingzi (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-14 09:38

WASHINGTON - Keeping a long distance relationship with a loved one is never easy. For the past six months, Elise Ney has managed to live a life without Tai Shan, the Washington DC-born panda, since the bear left for China on Feb 4.

"Oh my gosh, I miss everything about Tai," said the businesswoman, who used to watch the panda via webcam every day after it was born. "I miss how he made me smile. I miss watching him perform all his daredevil stunts in the trees. I miss watching him eat his fruits and bamboo. I just miss his presence. The National Zoo is just not the same without him there."

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Like many Washingtonian fans of the panda, she rarely visits the zoo after Tai Shan was shipped.

"I do go to see Mei Xiang and Tian Tian (Tai Shan's parents) who I love very much, but seeing them is a reminder of Tai being gone. He brought joy to so many people and not having him in DC is a big void."

Tai Shan was the first surviving giant panda cub born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington DC and it quickly became the most popular animal there, attracting thousands of visitors every year and millions of fans worldwide via the webcam since his birth on July 9, 2005. It was also something of a mascot for Washingtonians - it is featured on the smart cards used to access the city's metro.

But under the agreement, giant panda cubs born at the zoo belong to China and are sent to a panda reserve in Sichuan province after the cub turns 2. Because of Tai Shan's huge popularity, China agreed to extend its loan to the zoo twice until the end of January.

His departure was so heartbreaking for panda fans that it attracted major US and international media to the airport when Tai Shan was being shipped.

The love for Tai Shan is so strong that Ney and her friends are visiting Tai Shan in China this September. For Nye, it will be her first trip to China.

Panda lovers can still get a lot of updates of the cute bear's life in the Bifengxia Base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Ya'an, thanks to the members of Pandas Unlimited, Pandas International and Tai Shan's keeper.

Pandas Unlimited members post any news that appears in the papers about Tai Shan and some have traveled to China to see him and volunteer at the base, Frances Nguyen, founder of the popular Web-based panda lover group, told China Daily.

Tai Shan's keeper also posts a "Diary of Tai Shan" periodically, written as if Tai Shan is talking, that is accompanied by photos.

"We are also very proud of and happy for Tai because everything we've read and all the photos we've seen show a healthy, happy, grown-up giant panda who has done a brilliant job, along with its keepers, in adapting to his new home in China," she said.

But the photos and stories have been far from enough to appease the fans. What most Tai Shan fans said they really want is a webcam that can broadcast his life all year around.

Pandas International, a nonprofit international organization that focuses exclusively on pandas, is now working with Chinese authorities to install a webcam.

"We have received a private donation to cover the cost of the equipment, installation and first year of upkeep for the webcam," Pandas International director and co-founder Suzanne Braden told China Daily.

The organization, founded in 1999, is now based in Colorado with over 5,500 active members from 44 countries, most of whom are Americans.

A contract has been signed with a telecom company, but bad weather and power outages have delayed the completion date, she said. "We are hoping to go live soon."

In addition to keeping up with Tai Shan, Pandas Unlimited members have begun looking for ways to honor him.

Pandas Unlimited has raised $30,000 to purchase a much needed ultrasound machine for the Bifengxia Panda Reserve. It has also assisted with hosting two Chinese doctors that went to the US to be trained in the use of the ultrasound machine, said Nguyen.

"We donated it in Tai's name but it's really a gift for him and all the other giant pandas at Bifengxia," she said.