San Francisco's mayor looks forward to bringing back pandas from China

London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco, is being accompanied by a delegation of 30 officials during this week's diplomatic trip to China, looking for more business and, perhaps, a couple of pandas.

"My plan is to do everything I can to make it clear that our San Francisco Zoo, we stand ready and willing and able to host pandas at our zoo," said Mayor Breed in south China's Shenzhen City on Monday.

"We think that it's a wonderful opportunity. Panda diplomacy we know is also important as a way to build bridges," Breed noted. "Can you imagine how exciting that would be for a city like San Francisco?"

Breed mentioned in previous interviews that her goal is to bring pandas back to the San Francisco Zoo, improve relationships with China, and boost tourism in an effort to be a driving force of innovation and economic leadership.

"I believe pandas will revitalize San Francisco," said a member of the delegation.

Pandas serve as good-will ambassadors of China and have long been a symbol of China-U.S. friendship.

After a 20-year residency in the United States, beloved female giant panda Ya Ya returned from Memphis Zoo and celebrated her 23rd birthday at her birthplace, Beijing Zoo, in 2023.

In February 2024, panda lovers in the United States received a long-waited injection of hope after Chinese and U.S. wildlife conservation organizations signed a new round of agreements on giant panda conservation.

The China Wildlife Conservation Association inked an agreement with the U.S. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) concerning cooperation on the conservation of giant pandas as part of efforts to step up the protection of the species on a global level.

The message spread fast among panda lovers in the United States, who are eager to see giant pandas again. At the San Diego Zoo, many visitors called the news "thrilling," "fantastic" and "amazing."

"This is a wonderful alliance between the U.S. and China," said Lillian Hallberg, a visitor from Boston. "All U.S. citizens love the panda bears, all over the world too."

Lillian and her husband, George Hallberg, are both panda lovers. They have visited the San Diego Zoo and the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., many times when giant pandas lived there.

"Pandas are one of the iconic species that people everywhere love; they just make you happy. They (the U.S. and China) are all doing together. The conservation worked. It's very important," George noted.

Claudia Rodriguez, a local resident of San Diego, said she had a great time with the last two giant pandas at the San Diego Zoo, Bai Yun and her son Xiao Liwu, before they returned to China in 2019.

"They were very popular, and many people came to see them," she said. "They were so beautiful."

In 1972, two giant pandas arrived at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., from China as a gift from the Chinese government, following then-U.S. President Richard Nixon's groundbreaking trip to China.

The San Diego Zoo had pandas from 1996 to 2019, before Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu left the zoo for their homeland in May 2019.

Currently, the giant panda habitat at the San Diego Zoo is under construction. Preparations are underway for the arrival of pandas.

(With inputs from Xinhua; cover via CFP)