Panda love endures across the Pacific

The bestowment of two giant pandas on the US in 1972 began the 'year of the panda' and a continuing fascination with the rare and vulnerable animals

A green-hued April day, 19-month-old giant panda cub Bei Bei was climbing a tree at the National Zoo in Washington D.C., the United States, drawing laughter from the crowds.

"I started coming here way back to the 1970s when China gifted two (giant) pandas to Washington," Stephanie Smith, gray hair with a panda hat pin, was overjoyed by every move of Bei Bei at the giant panda house.