U.S. Born Pandas Tai Shan and Mei Lan Arrive in Chengdu
On the afternoon of Friday, February 05, 2010, the Federal Express 777F air freighter carrying the two U.S.-born pandas touched down in Chengdu, bringing Tai Shan from the Washington National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and Mei Lan from Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta Georgia.
In a welcome ceremony organized by the Sichuan Forestry Department, U.S. Consul General David E. Brown presented a speech to welcome the pandas, saying,
“Ever since Tai Shan was born in Washington, D.C. in 2005, and Mei Lan in Atlanta, Georgia in 2006, both pandas have become endearing goodwill ambassadors for China in the United States. They, along with their parents and the other pandas on loan from China in San Diego, California and Memphis, Tennessee occupy a special place in the U.S.-China relationship, which has matured and expanded over the past 30 years. In 1972, even before formal diplomatic relations between our two countries were established in 1979, the National Zoo welcomed its first pair of pandas -- Hsing Hsing and Ling Ling. Since then, the personal and institutional relationships formed through these panda exchanges have deepened, and they are now a foundation for important joint efforts that continue to advance the conservation of pandas and their habitat.”
Following the arrival ceremony, Tai Shan was driven two and a half hours to Wolong’s Bifengxia Panda Base, just outside the city of Ya’an, Sichuan, which will be his new home. Mei Lan was taken to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding Center in Chengdu.
'I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations -- that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice.'(
