Bao Bao's debut kicks off Chinese New Year festivities

Panda cub Bao Bao's public debut at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park over the Martin Luther King Jr Day weekend was a perfect start to Chinese Lunar New Year of the Horse celebrations.

Although the Chinese New Year won't officially begin until Jan 31, the Washington zoo got into the spirit of celebration on Jan 18, extending weekend viewing hours for the popular cub, by opening two hours early, at 8 am. "It's so cute and it's my first time to see a panda cub," says Ju Qiaoling, who is visiting the United States from her home in Shanghai. She was thrilled to see Bao Bao playing with a ball.

But most zoo-goers visiting over the weekend weren't able to see the star attraction playing because the 8.62-kilogram cub - just 154 days old - sleeps up to 20 hours a day. One woman in the panda pavilion said her granddaughter saw the cub playing in the evening via the zoo's 24/7 webcam.