Panda Fever

Are you a panda lover？ Will this cuddly[令人想擁抱的] black and white bear melt your heart？ If so， youre not the only one. Tens of thousands of Americans and tourists around the world flock[聚結(jié)] to the National Zoo in Washington D.C.， just to see the adorable giant pandas.

On August 23 last year， the panda mother Mei Xiang gave birth to a cub[幼獸] named BaoBao. The name was chosen from an online vote that attracted more than 120，000 people. Ever since BaoBao was born， the panda house has become the most visited place in the National Zoo. On public holidays， long lines of visitors are inevitable. Local media is never tired of reporting about BaoBao， with way more coverage than her mother Mei Xiang and father Tian Tian.

The National Zoo set up a Panda Cam， allowing fans from afar to watch BaoBaos real-time activities on the zoos official website.It was such a big hit that the Panda Cam went down a few times due to heavy online traffic. When the Panda Cam works well， viewers can clearly see when the panda cub is sleeping， playing， being fed by the zoo keeper， or even having her body checkup！ To protect the cub from being hurt by her mother Mei Xiang， BaoBao lives separately from her moms habitat.

In China， I seldom saw pandas regularly making the headline of local TV news. But American media sees pandas differently！ It pays great attention to this Chinese national treasure， especially in cities like Atlanta， Memphis， San Diego and Washington， where the twelve giant pandas are housed in their zoos. If you travel to the capital of the U.S.， you cant miss the panda souvenirs[紀(jì)念品]. From stuffed animals to postcards， from coffee mugs[杯子] to key chains， therere panda images on all of them. If youre not an observant panda fan， you cant really tell the difference between the giant pandas in the National Zoo and the ones living in China. Even the DC Metro has issued an edition of SmarTrip Cards featuring BaoBao， to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the National Zoo.

Whether you are a panda lover or not， its worth a trip to the zoo in the U.S.. On a recent visit to the National Zoo， I also saw prairie dogs[草原土撥鼠]， a beaver[海貍] and an armadillo[犰狳] that I had never seen in the zoos in China. Its an eye-opening experience for sure！