A Giant Farewell to Giant Pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji

Giant pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji began their journey to China this morning, Nov. 8, 2023. They departed the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute at 9:31 a.m. EST for Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia where they will board a dedicated and custom-decaled FedEx Panda Express Boeing 777F aircraft. The approximately 19-hour, trans-Pacific flight from Washington, D.C., to Chengdu, China, will include a brief refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska.
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First thing this morning, the panda team finalized preparations for the pandas’ departure. After receiving their breakfast, each panda entered their individual, custom travel crate, which they have been acclimating to over the past several weeks. One by one, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and Xiao Qi Ji’s crates were moved onto a forklift that traveled carefully out of the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat. They were then loaded onto FedEx trucks before departing the Zoo.
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Brandie Smith, the John and Adrienne Mars director of NZCBI, was joined by Minister Xu Xueyuan from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, FedEx and animal care staff to say goodbye.
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Learn more: s.si.edu/3SsczGh.