People wearing panda ears and toting stuffed animals lined up in the dark, arctic air Friday to meet Washington’s new pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao, as they made their long-awaited public debut at Smithsonian’s National Zoo. DC has been panda-free since November 2023, when Tian Tian, Mei Xiang, and Xiao Qi Ji rolled out of the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat for the last time, and anticipation for Bao Li and Qing Bao has been fierce. Washingtonian was on hand as the city finally got to say hello.
