On April 16, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo held a Celebration for the 50th Anniversary of Giant Pandas’ Arrival in the United States at the Panda House. Ambassador Qin Gang was invited to attend the celebration.

Accompanied by Director Brandie Smith of the Zoo, Ambassador Qin toured the Panda House, and saw the Zoo’s in-residence giant panda family: Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and Xiao Qi Ji. Then he delivered remarks to the media.

Ambassador Qin said in his remarks that over the past 50 years, China and the US have achieved a lot in giant panda conservation. Fifty years ago, there were only a few hundred pandas, but now there are more than 1,800. Giant pandas are not an “endangered” species any more, and this fully shows our achievement in biodiversity protection. When working together, China and the US can get things done. I believe that we have the wisdom and courage to maintain cooperation and deliver results, not only in giant panda conservation, but in many other areas, to the benefit of the people of both countries and the world.

Dr. Smith said, the US and China have maintained great communication to conserve giant panda and save endangered species. Giant panda is a perfect example of how our two countries can work together and also a goodwill ambassador for our people. I hope that such cooperation will continue for better conservation of giant pandas.

After their remarks, Dr. Smith invited Ambassador Qin to enter pandas’ habitat, where they used bamboo to add the finishing touches to a fruitsicle cake that had a “50” decoration on it.

Nearly 20,000 American visitors registered online to attend the celebration in person. They gathered early in the morning at the Panda House and watched with great interest the pandas enjoy their treats. The crowd was filled with cheers and laughter. Visitors, especially children, were amazed by the pandas and took plenty of pictures.

As a courtesy to support the celebration, Chinese Embassy in the United States set up a cultural booth outside the Panda House to hand out giant panda souvenirs and books. The Embassy staff also displayed calligraphy skills onsite and showed visitors how to write with brushes Chinese characters such as "小奇迹"(Xiao Qi Ji), “大熊猫”(Giant Panda), "五十周年" (50th Anniversary) and "友谊使者" (Goodwill Ambassador). There was a long line of visitors waiting to have a try. Visitors also enjoyed panda-shaped bao buns specially made by Embassy chefs for the celebration.

The event was covered by the Associated Press, The Washington Post, NBC, CBS, Fox, The New Yorker, Voice of America, Sinovision, WUSA9, WTOP and Chinese media, including People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, CGTN, China News Service, China Daily, and Dragon TV.

In February 1972, US President Nixon paid a historic visit to China. The government of China gave a pair of giant pandas to the US as a gift. On April 16 of the same year, giant pandas Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing came to the United States and arrived at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. US First Lady Pat Nixon attended the ceremony to dedicate the Panda House. Over 8,000 Americans greeted Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing on their arrival. On their public debut, more than 20,000 people lined up to see them, and over one million people visited them in the first month of their public appearance.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the arrival of giant pandas in the United States and the close cooperation between China and the United States in giant panda conservation, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo launched a six-month celebration starting from March 16.