Nov. 8, 2023 was a historic day in Washington D.C.
For the first time in 23 years, the giant panda exhibit at the Smithsonian National Zoo is empty.
Crowds gathered outside the zoo to watch the panda-branded FedEx trucks creep up Connecticut Avenue on their way to Dulles International Airport -- with pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji safely in tow.
It was an emotional day for panda-lovers in the District, as people said farewell to beloved local icons that some in the city have never lived without.
The panda departure has larger implications for international relations, conservation efforts and tourism in D.C.
But for now, as we sniffle over the loss of our floofy friends, here's a look at some iconic images from the pandas' farewell, and a look back on the pandas' time at the National Zoo.
29 photos
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Getty Images
A boy hugs a panda statue as he visits the Giant Panda enclosure at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, on November 7, 2023, on the final day of viewing before the zoo’s three pandas return to China. All three of the zoo’s pandas are leaving for China by the end of the year, bringing at least a temporary end to a decades-old connection between the cuddly animal and the US capital. And while the pandas’ departure had been expected due to contractual obligations, many can’t help but see the shift as reflective of the growing strains between Beijing and Washington. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
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Getty Images
Visitors take a selfie with a stuffed panda as they visit the Giant Panda enclosure at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, on November 7, 2023, on the final day of viewing before the zoo’s three pandas return to China. All three of the zoo’s pandas are leaving for China by the end of the year, bringing at least a temporary end to a decades-old connection between the cuddly animal and the US capital. And while the pandas’ departure had been expected due to contractual obligations, many can’t help but see the shift as reflective of the growing strains between Beijing and Washington. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
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Getty Images
A worker carries bamboo out of the panda exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, on November 8, 2023, for the Pandas being returned to China. All three of the zoo’s pandas are leaving for China, bringing at least a temporary end to a decades-old connection between the cuddly animal and the US capital. And while the pandas’ departure had been expected due to contractual obligations, many can’t help but see the shift as reflective of the growing strains between Beijing and Washington. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Getty Images
Workers carry apples and water out of the panda exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, on November 8, 2023, for the Pandas being returned to China. All three of the zoo’s pandas are leaving for China, bringing at least a temporary end to a decades-old connection between the cuddly animal and the US capital. And while the pandas’ departure had been expected due to contractual obligations, many can’t help but see the shift as reflective of the growing strains between Beijing and Washington. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Stephanie Scarbrough / AP
Giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji is transported in a crate to depart the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington en route to Washington Dulles International Airport, where he will travel aboard the FedEx Panda Express to China, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023.
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WRC-TV
The zoo’s famed giant pandas are leaving D.C., traveling up Connecticut Avenue and then boarding a specially equipped FedEx plane en route to China.
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Chopper4
In specially marked FedEx trucks, the pandas were escorted by police in a motorcade as they departed the zoo to head toward Dulles International Airport. Chopper4 shows them here on Interstate 66 in Virginia.
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Getty Images
A crate carrying Giant Panda Mei Xiang (in window) is unloaded at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, on November 8, 2023. All three of the zoo’s pandas from the Smithsonian National Zoo are leaving for China, bringing at least a temporary end to a decades-old connection between the cuddly animal and the US capital. And while the pandas’ departure had been expected due to contractual obligations, many can’t help but see the shift as reflective of the growing strains between Beijing and Washington. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
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WRC
The specially-branded “Panda Express” Boeing 777 waits on the Dulles International Airport tarmac for the three National Zoo Pandas to arrive. The giant pandas left D.C. on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023.
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WRC
The wheels of the FedEx Panda Express lift off the ground as the Boeing 777 leaves the U.S. for China on Nov. 8, 2023.
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WRC
The FedEx Panda Express soars into the sky, en route to China with three pandas in tow on Nov. 8, 2023.
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Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute
Mei Xiang celebrates her 25th birthday with a fruitsicle cake. It was her last birthday celebration in D.C. before traveling back to China in November 2023.
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Skip Brown, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
Xiao Qi Ji celebrates his third birthday with a fruitsicle cake at the zoo. Boxes filled with treats read "Young, Wild and 3."
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Getty Images
WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 21: Rachel Weidner, a tourist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, poses for a portrait with her panda-themed headband as she watches male giant panda Xiao Qi Ji eat an ice cake for his third birthday at the Smithsonian National Zoo on August 21, 2023 in Washington, DC. This is the last year that the National Zoo is celebrating the birthdays for the three giant pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and Xiao Qi Ji as they are scheduled to return to China later in 2023, with no replacements expected to be exchanged. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Tian Tian, the oldest panda at the National Zoo.
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Getty Images
WASHINGTON – OCTOBER 11: Giant panda Mei Xiang naps during a media preview of the newly installed Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat and Asia Trail on October 11, 2006 at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. The Giant Panda Habitat and Asia Trail, which opens to the public on October 17, covers nearly six acres and features seven Asian species including the giant panda, Japanese giant salamander, red panda, Asian small-clawed otter, fishing cat, clouded leopard and sloth bear. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
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Getty Images
The National Zoo’s first three surviving panda cubs (L-R): Tai Shan, born 2005; Bao Bao, born 2013; Bei Bei, born 2015
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Getty Images
Tai Shan, the National Zoo’s four-month-old giant panda cub, climbs on rocks in his exhibit in Washington November 29, 2005. Zoo veterinarians say the cub now weighs 8.7 kg (19.2 pounds) and is 79.2 cm (31.2 inches) long. (Photo by Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)
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National Zoo
Giant panda Mei Xiang has given birth to a cub.
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Smithsonian National Zoo
The National Zoo’s giant panda Mei Xiang holds her cub on Sept. 13, 2020. Later named Xiao Qi Ji, the cub was considered a miracle baby due to Mei Xiang's age when he was born.
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Courtesy of the Smithsonian National Zoo
The National Zoo’s panda cub, Xiao Qi Ji, gets some fresh sun in the warm weather.
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Photo taken on May 20, 2021 shows the giant panda cub “Xiao Qi Ji” little miracle during a media preview at Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., the United States. Smithsonian’s National Zoo will reopen from May 21, 2021. (Photo by Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images)
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Agnes BUN / AFP via Getty Images
Baby panda Xiao Qi Ji (L) celebrates his first birthday with his mother, Mei Xiang, at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 21, 2021.
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Agnes BUN / AFP via Getty Images
Giant Panda Xiao Qi Ji (R) celebrates his first birthday with his mother, Mei Xiang, by eating a fruitsicle cake at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, on August 21, 2021.
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Smithsonian Zoo
Xiao Qi Ji plays in the snow on a wintery day in D.C. in 2022. Panda fans were regularly delighted by the bears' antics on the Smithsonian's Panda Cam livestream.
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getty images
WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 21: Male giant panda Xiao Qi Ji walks to an ice cake for his third birthday celebration in his enclosure at the Smithsonian National Zoo on August 21, 2023 in Washington, DC. This is the last year that the National Zoo is celebrating the birthdays for the three giant pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and Xiao Qi Ji as they are scheduled to return to China later in 2023, with no replacements expected to be exchanged. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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getty images
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 22: Giant panda, Xiao Qi Ji is seen in his enclosure at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park on Sunday October 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. The pandas are being sent back to China before the end of the year. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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National Zoo
The pandas that started it all, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, in March 1985. The first two pandas arrived at the National Zoo in 1972, as a gift from China to commemorate then-President Richard Nixon's historic visit to the country.
