Fans at National Zoo in US bid farewell to three pandas

Three giant pandas at the National Zoo in Washington, DC — a pair that came to the United States 23 years ago and their 3-year-old son — headed to China on Wednesday, an emotional moment for millions of fans who have usually cited the bears as their reason for visiting the zoo.

At noon on Wednesday, as the crate containing Xiao Qi Ji ("Little Miracle" in English) was about to be loaded onto a FedEx plane at Washington Dulles International Airport, the junior panda seemed, to awestruck fans, to be waving his paws at the window.