Tai Shan, a four year-old panda, woke up in the National Zoo in Washington, DC. It was Sunday morning, sunlight streamed across snow-covered ground making everything sparkle around him. He felt like running and playing, but he was caged and couldn’t run far. Even worse, he had nobody to play with. His parents, Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, were giant pandas, much bigger than Tai Shan. He could see them standing near the end of the cage chatting. They didn’t look in the mood to play. He felt like climbing on his mother’s back, but decided he shouldn’t interrupt his parents’ conversation.

At that moment bells began chiming from nearby Washington National Cathedral. Tai Shan loved their sound, it made him happy. He lay down and rolled over and over, letting the joy of the bells rain down on him. When the bells stopped ringing the zoo gates opened, and children streamed in. He heard them shouting as they came toward him. He sat up on his back legs holding an apple in one paw.

“Come and look at the panda eating the apple.”

He could hear kids calling other kids, “William, Daniel, Lucas, Teagan and Chloe, come and see the panda.”

The children ran to him, they stood with their fingers curled around the wire fence, watching Tai Shan’s every move.

“Ohhh, he’s like a live teddy bear!” shouted William, “Oh Mommy, wouldn’t it be great to have a pet panda just like Tai Shan.”

“It would be great, but it’s not possible,” said his mother. “You can only have toy pandas because there are very few pandas left in the world, and they all live in China.” She explained that there are only about 1,000 left in the whole world because people tear down bamboo forests to build houses and roads, and this takes away all the bamboo that pandas need to grow and survive. She said that bamboo is just as important to a panda as milk is to a baby. They need lots of bamboo because they eat 20 to 40 lbs. every day. She told the children that if pandas don’t have bamboo to eat they will not survive.

None of the children, not even Tai Shan himself, knew how special he was about to become. He was going to embark on a great adventure. He would soon leave the Washington Zoo to go to Sichuan province in China. In Sichuan at the Wolong Nature Reserve, Tai Shan would be trained to save baby pandas lost in the forest. He would travel by himself, without his parents. They would follow him to China later.

When the zoo closed and all the children went home, Tai Shan’s mother called him to come and listen to what his parents had to tell him. He listened carefully as they told him about the big adventure that would take him all the way to China to be with many more pandas. They said there would be other pandas to play with, that he would be well looked after by his aunts and uncles, and that he would be happy in China. They said it was very important for him to go to China to help find hungry pandas wandering in the forest. They would be very proud of him for doing it.

Tai Shan was happy to hear this, but he had a lot of questions. He wondered if it would be a long, long walk to China. His eyes grew bigger and bigger until he cried out, “No, I can’t go. I’ll be too tired walking.”

“Silly,” said his mother laughing, “You won’t walk. You will fly on a jet plane.”

“A plane, what’s that?” he asked, looking very frightened.

I think you know what a plane looks like,” said his father. “You’ve seen them and heard them crossing the sky every day, making a big, loud noise.”

“Ohhh, that’s scary,” he exclaimed. “What if it falls out of the sky with me inside?” Just thinking about it made him shiver with fright.

His mother explained: “Lots of animals fly on planes. Your father and I came on a plane from the same place you are going in Wolong. Even the very first pandas came to America on a plane in 1972. They were sent as gifts of friendship from the Chinese people to the American people. Everyone loved them so much that ever since that time we have all become goodwill ambassadors for peace and friendship between China and America.”

Tai Shan was a bit afraid to go on a plane, but if his parents came to America on a plane, he would try to be brave so he could also make the trip.

“What’s an ambassador?” he asked curiously.

“An ambassador has a very important job,” said his father. “An ambassador brings friendship and good feelings from one country to another. The world is a big place with many countries spread across the earth. When countries are far apart, you may not know even one person in another country. You won’t know what the country looks like. Is it beautiful, does it have mountains? Unless you travel or make friends from other countries, you won’t know what kind of food they eat, what kind of music they like, what language they speak, or how it feels to live in that country. There is so much you won’t know. So an ambassador’s job is to encourage friendship by helping people know more about each other.” His father paused a moment to think. Then he said, “It’s like all of us in the zoo. We don’t live far from each other, but we don’t even know our neighbors. We could share nice stories if we did,” he said wistfully.

Tai Shan was glad his father knew about so many things. He asked his parents about Sichuan province in China. His parents told him that Sichuan means Land of Abundance. It has majestic mountains with high peaks covered in snow in the winter, lakes of many colors, and millions of wildflowers in summer. It has ancient villages, colorful temples, and hot springs where people take healing baths. It all sounded nice to him. The more he heard, the better he felt. For a moment he closed his eyes and imagined himself sitting on top of a mountain. Tai Shan was ready for a new adventure, and if there were other little pandas to play with, he would not be lonesome. He so loved to run and play and climb trees. His parents said there would be lots of trees to climb.

Before going on the long trip to China, Tai Shan knew there was one important thing he had to do. Like a good ambassador, he must say goodbye to his friends — Leonardo, the lion, Miss Sniffy, the giraffe, and a special elephant, Elemorphoriticus.

About a year ago he had become very curious about the other animals, sometimes hearing the roar of a lion in the distance. He desperately wanted to explore the world outside his cage, so he dug a hole under the fence. The hole was at the far corner of the cage where nobody ever went. He carefully covered it with brambles so it wouldn’t be discovered. From then on, he made frequent visits to other animals and now had very special friends to visit. Later that evening, when everything was quiet, he slipped out under the fence. Feeling free and happy, he ran as fast as he could straight to the lion’s cage.

As he reached the lion’s cage it was getting dark, but he glimpsed the lion dozing in the corner.

“Wake up, wake up Leonardo,” he shouted in a big, loud voice.

The startled lion jumped up on all four paws and stumbled forward.

“What’s all this noise about,” he said as he rubbed his eyes. “Is that you, Little Black Eyed Bumbulina?

“It’s me,” said Tai Shan, in a much quieter voice.

“Why are you here at this time of the evening?” asked Leonardo.

“I’ve come to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye, what do you mean?” asked the lion. “You can’t go anywhere. We live here in a zoo. Nobody can leave a zoo, we all know that.”

“I have to go to China to help save the pandas,” said Tai Shan.

Leonardo looked puzzled, paused for a moment, scratched his head and then said,

“Whatever! But if you are really going to leave, I will miss you.”

Tai Shan didn’t say anything. He was beginning to feel sad about leaving.

Leonardo, sensing his sadness, wanted to cheer him up. “Now, what can I give you as a going away present?” he asked.

Tai Shan sat down next to the lion’s cage. He thought for a while, and then decided the only thing he could take with him to China was a really good memory. He smiled mischievously at the idea that was coming into his mind. Then he asked,

“Leonardo, can you roar really loud — a big, fierce roar — your very biggest?”

Leonardo grinned at the idea, then said, “If I roar in my biggest voice everyone will come, and then you, Little Black Eyed Bumbulina, will be in big trouble, and you won’t be able to go save the pandas.”

But Tai Shan knew he could run and hide. “Don’t worry Leonardo. I’ll be OK!”

Waving to Leonardo, he ran behind a tree. He heard Leonardo clearing his throat. He waited a few moments — then, suddenly, a deep, fierce roar echoed throughout the zoo. RWROWRRRRRRR……. came from the lion’s cage, RWROWRRR….. It became louder and louder, so loud that Tai Shan had to cover his ears with his paws. When the roar finally stopped there was complete silence.

Tai Shan waited, but nobody came. Then he slipped out from behind the tree and ran quickly to Leonardo. “Goodbye, Leonardo, and thank you. I will always remember you and that roar; it is a great gift for my memory.”

“Goodbye, Little Black Eyed Bumbulina, I will remember you too. Know that every time you think of me, I will be thinking of you.”

“Thank-you, Leonardo, that makes me feel good.”

They touched paws through the bars of the cage, and then Tai Shan ran along.

He realized he had been away from his cage too long, but he still had to see Miss Sniffy and Elemorphoriticus. They would be very upset if he left without saying goodbye. When he reached Miss Sniffy she was standing with her long, giraffe neck draped over the side of the cage.

“Bumbulina, is that you? Did you hear that lion roaring? It was so loud and awful that I had to get up to see what’s going on.”

“Oh it’s just me, Miss Sniffy. I did hear Leonardo, and I thought it was great!”

“Well, I didn’t,” said Miss Sniffy. “I almost got a headache. What are you doing here? It’s getting late, and you usually come to chat in the morning.”

“I have come to say goodbye, Miss Sniffy,” he said quietly.

“Where are you going?” she asked in a whisper.

“I am going to China to save the pandas. I am leaving tomorrow.”

“No way,” she said. “You can’t leave, we would miss you too much. Nobody is as much fun as you, not in this whole zoo!”

“I have to go because the pandas need help,” he answered.

Miss Sniffy knew he was serious, and could see a little sadness, so she tried to think of things to make him feel better.

“I have some delicious treats to give you. If you’ll hang on a second, I will bring them to you.”

She hurried away and soon returned with a bunch of purple grapes hanging from her teeth.

“Let’s have a little picnic,” she said. So they sat together quietly popping grapes into their mouths. She looked up at the night sky.

“Have you ever seen a moon as big and bright as that?” she said, pointing her nose toward the sky.

He looked up at the moon. Just like hearing the bells of the cathedral, and feeling the sun in the morning, Tai Shan loved to look at the moon. He would watch every night as it got larger and larger until it looked like a balloon. Then gradually it became slimmer and smaller until it disappeared.

“The moon always comes back again,” said Tai Shan.

“Will you come back again, Bumbulina?” asked Miss Sniffy.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think so,” said Tai Shan.

“Well, I know what we can do,” she said, her big eyes shining. “If you watch the moon in China, and see it come and go, it will be the very same moon I see here in Washington. As we look at it, we will think of each other.”

“So that’s the same moon! He knew Miss Sniffy was wise about many things. “I will always remember that, Miss Sniffy,” he said, looking up at the moon again in surprise. “But now I must go.”

Miss Sniffy stood up and leaned her long neck over the top of the cage, all the way down to the panda’s head. She gave him a big, wet kiss. It landed right in his eye.

“Ouch, Miss Sniffy,” he said laughing, “I can’t see.” He wiped his eye, then looked up at her and said, “I am going to miss you.” Tai Shan didn’t want to cry, so he hurried away to see his third friend.

When he reached the elephant’s cage he was disappointed because he couldn’t see Elemorphoriticus right away.

“El—e—mor—phor—i—ti—cus, where are you?” he shouted, looking all around.

A beautiful, deep, musical voice came from the far end of the cage.

“Is that you, Little Black Eyed Bumbulina?” the voice inquired. Soon the big elephant appeared next to the fence where Tai Shan stood.

“Oh, I am so happy to see you, Elemorphoriticus.” Then Tai Shan started to talk really fast, all the words poured off his tongue.

“I don’t have much time, but I came to say goodbye. I am leaving tomorrow to go to China to help save the pandas, and I couldn’t leave without seeing you, and I was afraid you were sleeping and I wouldn’t see you anymore, and — oh dear, oh dear, now I am crying.”

“Please don’t cry little Bumbulina,” said Elemorphoriticus, tenderness filling his golden voice.” I don’t like to see you so sad. If you cry, I may cry too.”

Tai Shan looked into the eyes of Elemorphoriticus and saw such kindness that it took away his sadness, and he smiled.

Happy to see him smile, Elemorphoriticus said, “I will miss you terribly, Little Black Eyed Bumbulina, but you will always hold a special place in my heart. When I think about you and your mischievous ways, and all the fun and good talks we’ve had together — I will smile and be thankful for that first day you came knocking on my cage, and for every day after that. So right now let’s make a special memory for you to take with you to China.”

The elephant looked like he was thinking for a moment while Tai Shan waited and wondered what he would say next.

“Little Bumbulina,” he said, “I am going to give you a ride on my back.”

“Wow,” said Tai Shan laughing, “How will you ever do that?”

“Just a minute, I’ll show you.” He came really close to the fence, reached over the top, and wrapping his trunk around Tai Shan’s chubby belly, swooped him up in the air, over the fence, and down on his back.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,” squealed Tai Shan, “I never thought you could do that.”

He hung on tightly to the elephant’s neck as he started walking at a fast pace around and around in circles inside the cage.

“This is great, I am sooooo happy.” Tai Shan looked up at the sky and felt so much taller. He even felt a bit closer to the brilliant light of the moon and stars.

The next thing he knew the ride was over, and Elemorphoriticus was placing him gently on the ground outside the cage.

“I love you Little Black Eyed Bumbulina,” said the big elephant with the golden voice. “It is getting late, now you most hurry back to your cage. It’s feeding time, and I don’t want you to be in trouble.”

“Goodbye, Elemorphoriticus, and thanks for the great ride. I will never, ever forget it, even when I am far away in China with one hundred years behind me.”

Running as fast as his chubby legs would carry him, he reached his cage, clambered through the hole, covered it with the brambles, and lay down quietly next to his bed with his eyes shut. Just then, the gate clanged open and Mollie, his keeper, came in. Holding her big broom, she stood over him, looking down as though she thought he was only pretending to sleep. He opened one eye cautiously and then closed it. Leaving his dinner next to him, she just smiled, swept scraps of chewed bamboo and left.

When the gates of the zoo opened the next day, February 3, 2010, hundreds of people came to say goodbye to Tai Shan. Even the Washington Post newspaper had a picture of Tai Shan on the front page along with a story of how their dear little Chinese ambassador was going to China to help save the panda species. It was like a birthday party for Tai Shan; he was given his favorite treats. In fact, it was a banquet. He ate a mixture of sugar cane, rice gruel, carrots, apples and sweet potatoes. His mother, Mei Xiang, and father, Tian Tian, sat with him and told him not to eat so fast.

In the distance he could hear the excited voices of kids, and he kept wondering if William, Daniel, Lucas, Teagan and Chloe would come. They were the kids he had seen most often, he even knew the sound of their voices. While he was eating, his mother and father talked to him about the long journey ahead, and how proud they were to have their cub become an ambassador. He felt happy because everybody was happy, and besides, he had an adventurous spirit and wanted to see more of the world. He kept eating and wondered what the food would be like in China. They said the bamboo would be better, but of course, he wouldn’t know until he tasted it. Even though it was a cold day, the sun was warm on his face, and he was just beginning to fall asleep when he heard them coming. They were his favorite kids, William, Daniel, Lucas, Teagan and Chloe. They were all shouting, “Tai, Tai, come over and see us,” as they stretched out their hands through the fence.

Tai Shan jumped up from his nap and walked over to the fence. He could see their faces clearly, and they looked so happy to see him up so close. He wished he could talk to them like he could talk to other animals, but he knew they wouldn’t understand, so he just did some tricks. He rolled over and over and jumped and did a few cartwheels. Then, putting his front paws together, he made a little bow.

William laughed and said, “Wow, that was really cool, Tai, thank-you. We will miss you, but I will come to China someday to see you.”

Daniel said, “Can you please do the trick again?” So he did it once more before Mollie came and hurried him inside to get a bath before his trip the next day. He was glad he had seen the children once more, and he thought about his friends, Mr. Leonardo, Miss Sniffy and Elemorphoriticus. He had a warm feeling inside for everybody.

Early the next morning, on February 4, 2010, he was placed in a wagon, loaded in a big truck and taken to the airport. Mollie went with him, talking to him the whole time. She pointed to the plane. He saw a big jet with the words Bamboo Express written in blue on the side.

Mollie carried him in a cage onto the plane. She told him she would put him next to a window so he could see outside. She placed the cage in a good spot where he could see clearly what was happening around the plane as they loaded it. Mollie said she would return when the plane landed, then she left. He looked all around and saw lots of big boxes and packages, but then he noticed another cage directly behind him at the next window. He turned his head all around until he could get a closer look inside the other cage. What he saw was a big dog. It was a German Shepherd, lying in the cage with its head between its paws and its eyes half-closed, looking very sad.

‘“Are you sad?” he asked the dog.

“Yep,” said the dog, completely closing her eyes.

“Everything will be OK,” said Tai Shan. The dog didn’t seem to want to talk, but he knew the dog would feel better if she talked instead of just thinking sad thoughts. Now that he was an ambassador, he wasn’t about to give up.

“My name is Tai Shan, what’s your name?” he asked in a very gentle voice.

“My name is Shola,” said the German Shepherd.

“Where are you going, Shola?”

“To Sichuan province in China.”

“Why?” asked Tai Shan.

“I help blind people to see where they are walking.”

Tai Shan was puzzled. “How do you do that?” he asked.

The guide dog sat up. She looked beautiful. Her thick coat was a mixture of gold and black and white. Her deep brown eyes looked directly into Tai Shan’s eyes.

“Well,” she said, her head tipped to one side, “They hold onto my leash, and I make sure they don’t walk out into traffic or trip on the sidewalk or get lost.”

“Wow,” said Tai Shan, impressed by what the dog was telling him. “That sounds like a great thing to do. You must be an ambassador too.”

Tai Shan was really interested in what Shola was telling him and didn’t even realize that the plane was already up in the clouds, on its way to China.

“How many people do you have on the leash?” he asked.

Shola smiled, “Only one.” Then she relaxed and became more talkative and told Tai Shan how she was going to a new home with a blind girl named Shooling. “I will go everywhere with Shooling, even to school.”

Tai Shan was amazed. It sounded wonderful to him. He would love to have one special person to walk with every day, to play with in the park, and to safely lead to school without getting lost.

“Why are you going to Sichuan?” asked Shola.

“I am going to help save the pandas,” Tai Shan answered.

“How will you do that?”

“I don’t know yet, but I will do my very best.”

As the long hours went by, above the drone of the jet engines, they talked about everything. Tai Shan told Shola about his friends Leonardo, Miss Sniffy and Elemorphoriticus. He made Shola laugh when he told her about the ride on the elephant’s back, about the lion roaring so loudly, and about Miss Sniffy and how she would gaze at the same moon in Washington as Tai Shan in Sichuan.

Shola told him how she loved being free to chase squirrels and deer and how she enjoyed the beach and swimming with her master. They both fell asleep, but as the plane started to get lower and the engines became louder, Tai Shan stretched his neck to see out the window. He could see tops of mountains piercing through the clouds, and then he could see colored lakes and the many things his parents had told him about Sichuan.

The plane descended still lower until he suddenly felt a big bump as it touched down on the runway. This must be China, he thought.

He said goodbye to Shola and thanked her for her stories.

“You know, the next time I meet you, we will already be friends,” said Shola.

“It’s true, you are my first friend in China,” said Tai Shan.

They touched paws and knew they would always be good friends because, on that long journey together, they had learned so much about each other, and had helped each other make the time go by faster and to not be afraid.

Suddenly, there was a lot of noise, the doors opened, and packages were unloaded. Mollie came to Tai Shan’s cage carrying a bag of treats and telling him how good and brave he had been on the flight.

Together they boarded a big red truck heading to Wolong. Tai Shan’s new home would be at the China Conservation Center for Giant Pandas in Wolong, Sichuan province.

When he arrived at his destination he saw immediately that it was a nice home, clean and neat, and it smelled good. He liked it and wondered if he was in exactly the same spot as his parents when they lived in Wolong.

He was so tired that after he ate some bamboo, he fell fast asleep. When he opened his eyes he was happy to see Mollie, the sun was shining, and it was warm. There was a load of bamboo waiting for him. Mollie told him he would be going to Panda Kindergarten every day with other pandas.

He could hardly believe this was possible until he walked into a school with about twenty pandas, all between three and six years old. Behind the school was a playground with trees and a jungle gym. He climbed a ladder with the other pandas and went down the slide. All the pandas were friendly, and they laughed and played together.

Every day he made new friends, and every day he went to the forest with a trainer to look for hungry pandas. He was always on a leash so he wouldn’t get lost or run away, but he wanted to be free. So he learned to do everything so fast and so well that after three months his trainer took off the leash and put a transmitter collar around his neck. The collar would send signals telling the trainer where Tai Shan was located. Now it was certain Tai Shan would never get lost.

Then, for the first time since he had come to China, he went into the forest alone looking for baby pandas.

In the beginning it felt so good to be free that Tai Shan just ran fast and climbed trees, tumbled down hills, gobbled fruit, took naps in the sun, and almost forgot what he was supposed to be searching for.

Then one day he heard what sounded to him like a baby panda’s cry.

He listened and listened very carefully until he thought he knew exactly where the cry was coming from. Following the sound, Tai Shan climbed up a hill and, at the very top, he saw a huge bramble bush with lots of thorns and no way in or out. In the center of the tangled bush he spotted a baby panda. When he looked down the slope he saw a river, and in the river was a huge crocodile, its mouth wide open, staring straight up at him.

Tai Shan was petrified. He had never seen a crocodile and had never seen so many huge teeth that could chew him up in one big gulp. He felt like turning around and running really fast.

But he could hear the baby crying for help and knew he would have to rescue him. He broke off branches from a nearby tree and used the sticks to open up a path into the brambles. Trying not to get caught in the tangle, he pushed his way through.

He found the baby panda lying on his back with his legs up in the air.

Tai Shan looked at the crying panda and said, “Oh dear, Oh dear, now what am I going to do?”

At the sound of his voice the baby stopped crying for a moment.

Tai Shan was hopeful.

“Don’t cry little baby, I’ve come to rescue you. We have to get you out of here fast or the crocodile will get us.”

Out of the corner of his eye he could see the crocodile’s teeth getting bigger and bigger as it came closer and closer.

As soon as he stopped talking he noticed the baby started wailing again. So he thought maybe he should keep talking while trying to rescue him.

“Are you frightened?” he asked the baby panda. But there was no answer.

“Are you hungry?”

No answer.

“Do you have a pain?”

No answer.

He kept moving while talking. He decided to put the baby on his back and had to move down the slope just a little to avoid getting stuck in another bush. He could see the crocodile still staring up at him with its open mouth showing gigantic teeth.

The baby was squirming and was heavy, and the brambles kept getting in the way.

Then Tai Shan stumbled and fell. He started slipping, when suddenly the baby panda rolled off his back and slid down toward the open mouth of the crocodile. Tai Shan dug his rear paws into the dirt to stop from slithering further down the hill. He lay there for a minute, afraid to move.

He was really scared, but he told himself to be brave and strong. He was determined to save the baby panda. Looking down the slope he noticed a fallen tree lying, half hidden, on the river bank. It had stopped the baby panda from sliding further toward the crocodile.

With one eye on the crocodile and the other on the baby, Tai Shan crept carefully toward the tree.

As quick as he could, he pulled the baby up on his back, and with all the strength he had left, he clambered to the top of the hill. Suddenly he realized the baby had completely stopped crying and was listening to a new sound.

It was a noise coming from the transmitter on his collar. The noise became louder and louder until two men appeared in front of him. He recognized the trainers from the panda center; they had come to help him.

Picking up the baby panda, they put him on a big, soft cushion and, with Tai Shan walking proudly beside them, carried the baby all the way back to the Panda Conservation Center.

When they arrived there, tired and weary after the long walk, everybody fussed over Tai Shan. A big welcoming party was waiting, and he found all the pandas from his kindergarten were there to celebrate the rescue.

Tai Shan was honored because had found the first baby panda, which no other panda had been able to do in a long time. They called him a hero. They patted him and gave him special treats.

When Tai Shan looked around for the baby panda he was very pleased to see the hungry cub stuffing bamboo into his mouth. It looked like he had forgotten about the crocodile and was enjoying the party.

Tai Shan was happy too and soon forgot how scared he had been of the big crocodile with the gigantic teeth.

Every day, from that day onwards, Tai Shan went to the forest. Sometimes he would look for many days and would be disappointed because he couldn’t find any pandas. Other times he was able to rescue the babies from trees and swamps and caves. Although he missed his old friends, he had found many new friends to play with.

They shared stories. He told them about the hole he had dug under the fence and how he became friends with Leonardo the Lion, Miss Sniffy the Giraffe and Elemorphoriticus, the wonderful elephant. He even encouraged them to watch the moon with him at night. And Tai Shan’s new friends answered all his questions, telling him everything he wanted to know about living in China.

Tai Shan could see it was a lovely country, and he spent a lot of time exploring and filling his eyes with the beauty of the surrounding land. He had also found uncles and aunts who loved him very much, and he knew his parents would be coming soon.

One night, as Tai Shan lay outside under the stars watching the moon shine down, he thought about all his adventures since leaving Washington, DC. He was glad he had come to China. He knew that his work to help save the pandas was very important, just like what Shola, the guide dog, was doing to help the blind girl in Wolong. For Tai Shan, having work to do was much better than sitting in a zoo all day long just waiting to eat.

Smiling to himself, he stretched his arms and legs and then rolled over and over and over, until finally falling into happy little panda dreams.

The End