美国城市亚特兰大和华盛顿分别向颇受欢迎和喜爱的大熊猫告别，这两只大熊猫曾吸引了无数的游客，但是根据与北京的一项协议，这两只大熊猫必须被送回中国。
亚特兰大动物园星期四早上送走了三岁的大熊猫美兰。她将在华盛顿杜勒斯国际机场和国家动物园四岁半的大熊猫泰山会合，它们将经过大约14个小时的飞行到达中国成都。两个大熊猫的父母是根据一项和中国的协议租借来的，并且这两家动物园和北京之间还有一份协议表示，大熊猫所生的任何幼崽都必须送到中国。
国家动物园说，有几百万人参观了泰山的动物园栖息地，并且世界上还有许多人通过该动物园的网络视频观看了这只黑白相间，以竹子为食的大熊猫的各种滑稽样子。亚特兰大动物园描述美兰的离开对他们和全世界的熊猫迷来说是一个“苦乐参半的时刻”，但是对于大熊猫来说则是一个“美好的时刻”。
The U.S. cities of Atlanta and Washington have said their farewells to two popular, beloved giant pandas that were huge tourist attractions, but had to be sent to China under an agreement with Beijing.
Zoo Atlanta sent three-year-old Mei Lan early Thursday. She flew to Washington Dulles International Airport to join four-and-a-half-year-old Tai Shan of the National Zoo for the approximately 14 hour flight to Chengdu, China. The parents of the two pandas are on loan from China, and an agreement between the zoos and Beijing says any cub born to the pandas must be sent to China.
The National Zoo says millions of people have visited Tai Shan’s zoo habitat and many more people around the world have watched the antics of the black-and-white bamboo-eating creature on the zoo’s Web cam. Zoo Atlanta describes the departure as a “bittersweet moment” for the zoo and fans around the world, but a “wonderful moment for giant pandas.”