China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Ya'an, Yaan - 12 Jun 2024

A picture taken during a media tour shows giant panda Bei Bei eating bamboo at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda at the Ya'an Bifengxia Base, near Ya'an, Sichuan province, China, 12 June 2024 (issued 16 June 2024). Bei Bei was born at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., USA, in 2015 and returned to China in November 2019. China's 'Panda Diplomacy', the country's practice of sending giant pandas abroad for a period of time to strengthen diplomatic ties and raise awareness on wildlife conservation, has very clear rules: cubs born outside of China must return to the country once they reach sexual maturity - between three and five years of age - and the pandas that were sent as adults also return when they enter old age, the keepers at Bifengxia Base explain. In the first weeks or even months after a panda returns from abroad, in an attempt to make them feel comfortable in adapting to a completely new life and language response, far from everything they previously knew, their keepers spend much more time than usual with them, to feed them or simply be with them.