While the departure was announced to take place at around 9:00 a.m. EST (14:00 GMT), people came to the gates of the now former home of the White and Black bears at 7:00 a.m.
A sign attached to the zoo gates said "Closed until mid-morning" amid the transfer of the beloved pandas. Along with an increased police and press presence, there were many regular members of the public with children. Some were holding toy pandas, some were crying, many had come from other towns just to say goodbye to the departing animals.
The Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington and China's Wildlife and Conservation Society have a three-year agreement to keep the three panda bears in the US capital through 2023. The agreement is set to expire in December.
Chinese Embassy in Washington spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Sputnik in October the China Wildlife Conservation Association and the National Zoo in Washington had announced that the three giant pandas — Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and Xiao Qi Ji — would return to China at the end of the year as previously scheduled.
Liu also said that US and Chinese technical cooperation units are communicating on future collaboration on giant panda research and conservation.
The giant panda is an unofficial symbol of China. In July 2021, the Chinese authorities announced that giant pandas are no longer an endangered species in the country, as their population has grown to more than 1,800 individuals in the wild over the past decade.