Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing arrive in Washington

APR 16 1972 · 12:00

After President Nixon's historic February 1972 visit to China, Beijing gifts the United States two giant pandas. Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing arrive at the Smithsonian's National Zoo on 16 April 1972 to enormous crowds — the warm, fuzzy symbol of a Cold War thaw.