On Feb 22, she said goodbye to the city before take a nonstop 16-hours flight to Chengdu, China. “It’s hard, and we know that we’re sending her back to be part of the breeding (繁殖) program and to make more baby panda,” Brandie Smith, senior curator of giant pandas at the National Zoo, told ABC News. “I think a lot of parents can understand the feeling. From the moment our kids are born, we train them to work hard and success on their own. So that’s why we’re doing for BaoBao.”

Right after she was born, the panda became a star in Washington. After a online vote, she was named “BaoBao”, that means “treasure”. Visitors came to the National Zoo to have a look at her when she made her first public appearance in January 2014.