Remarks by Consul General David E. Brown
Welcome Ceremony for Pandas Tai Shan and Mei Lan

Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport
February 5, 2010

Deputy Director General Jia Jiansheng, Division Director Liu Lijun, Honored Guests, Ladies and Gentleman, Good afternoon.

I am delighted to be present to celebrate the arrival of pandas Tai Shan and Mei Lan to China.  I thank our gracious hosts from State Forestry Administration Department of Wildlife Conservation, Sichuan Forestry Association, Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens, China Wildlife Conservation Association, Wolong China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding for making this event possible.  On behalf of all involved on the U.S. side, I also would like to thank FedEx for generously making sure that Tai Shan and Mei Lan made their journey to China safely and comfortably.  Finally, I welcome the staff members from Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and Zoo Atlanta in Georgia.  I understand that the zoo teams will have the opportunity to travel with Tai Shan to Bifengxia, just outside of Ya’an, and with Mei Lan to the Chengdu Panda Base.  While the staff will have to bid fond farewells to Tai Shan and Mei Lan, I know they will come away impressed by the excellent work that is being carried out at those sites.

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.

The arrival of these two pandas highlights the enduring nature of the US-China relationship and our long-standing friendship.  Americans have delighted in visiting the pandas and see them as a symbol of our close ties with China.

In fact, in recent days hundreds of letters representing the well-wishes of the American people for the pandas and for those who will care for them in their new homes have been collected at the National Zoo and Zoo Atlanta and have been delivered to China by FedEx.  On behalf of the American people, I would like to present these letters to the Wolong Nature Reserve and the Chengdu Panda Base.  We wish you all the best as Tai Shan and Mei Lan integrate into their new homes under your expert care.

Thank you very much.

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