President Bill Clinton took his daughter, Chelsea, and young nephews to the National Zoo on last Saturday for a sneak peek at giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian who arrived from China last month.
Clinton and a small group of family members, including his young nephews, Zach and Tyler, laughed and pointed as they watched the pandas scamper down rocks and feast on bamboo.
Four days before the pandas are officially presented to the public, the president was given a special tour of the panda exhibit and a detailed explanation of the lifestyles of the animals that have captured the fascination of many people.
The pandas were lent to the zoo from the Sichuan province's China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda at a cost of $10 million for 10 years.
Like anyone who goes to see the pandas who are still in quarantine, Clinton donned blue paper slippers over his tennis shoes to walk around the pandas' indoor quarters.
He seemed as excited as his nephews as he soaked up the information given by zoo officials and offered carrots through a mesh fence to the pandas.
"They're not going to be happy when it warms up, are they?" Clinton remarked before heading outside to see the pandas frolic around their wooded, snow-covered enclosure outside.
But Clinton, who had peppered the zoo officials with questions, later explained to reporters that the pandas could be cooled off by cold air blasts in the caves built into the enclosure.
Wearing jeans and a millennium leather jacket with a huge American flag on the back, Clinton said he could understand the fascination with the pandas, who came to the United States as replacements for the late Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling -- the zoo's top attraction while they were alive.
"They're beautiful and they're different," he said. "I think they are fascinating."
He was also amazed by the huge amounts the pandas could eat, up to 40 pounds (18 kg) of carrots, bamboo and sweet potatoes a day.
The fascination with the animals' habits carried over on Clinton's next stop at the zoo -- the building housing the hippos, rhinos and elephants.
After coaxing his nephews to feed the rhinos, Clinton listened intently as elephant keeper Sean Royals explained the daily life of a hippopotamus -- a day spent mainly hanging out in the water or eating.
"I look forward to hours like that," said Clinton, who leaves office after eight years on Jan. 20. "Sleep 20 hours, eat four hours -- I can do that."
(China Daily 01/07/2001)
