Bao Bao says bye-bye to US, ni hao to China

For Dennis Kelly, director of the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, watching giant panda Bao Bao leave for China on Tuesday was "bittersweet".

Bao Bao, the zoo's 3-and-a-half-year-old female giant panda, left Washington Dulles International Airport for China on Tuesday afternoon aboard a FedEx Panda Express 777F airplane.

Accompanying her on her 16-hour trip were a keeper and a veterinarian, as well as bamboo, apples, "leaf eater" biscuits and cooked potatoes - all Bao Bao's favorite treats.