The Ambassador from Sichuan

The Ambassador from Sichuan - Alexander Jaewon Lee (Oak Middle School, 6th Grade)

As soon as the loan agreement was signed, Fu-Bao, a young giant panda, found herself whisked away from her peaceful life in Sichuan, China. She wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but her mother assured her, “It’s an adventure! You’ll be like a panda celebrity. Enjoy it while it lasts.” Fu-Bao wasn’t convinced, but she liked the sound of “celebrity.”

Her destination? A zoo in America. The journey was long, and Fu-Bao found herself in a crate with nothing to do but munch on bamboo and wonder if this “ambassador” business meant free bamboo forever. Surely, that was part of the deal, right?

When the plane finally touched down, Fu-Bao peeked out to see a crowd of humans waving signs with her name. They seemed overly excited, jumping and shouting as if they had never seen a panda before. Pandas are very rare animals, with only about 1,800 left in the wild, so maybe that explained their enthusiasm. “This is it,” Fu-Bao thought. “My celebrity moment.” She tried to strike a pose but tripped over her own paw. Not the best start, but hey, every star has an off day.

Her new home was spacious and filled with all the bamboo she could ever want. Fun fact: pandas can eat up to 40 pounds of bamboo a day! There were trees to climb, a little pool to splash in, and a comfy nook for napping. Not bad, Fu-Bao thought. But still, something felt missing. Back in China, the forest was wild and free. Here, there were humans watching her all the time, as if waiting for her to do something… panda-ish.

One day, a group of children gathered by her enclosure. They stared at her with wide eyes and whispered excitedly. Fu-Bao sighed and rolled onto her back dramatically. “Are you not entertained?” she thought, imagining herself as the star of a panda reality show. But the kids seemed thrilled by even the smallest thing she did. One of them squealed in delight just because she scratched her ear.

It dawned on Fu-Bao that her job here might be simpler than she thought. These humans were fascinated by everything—from her bamboo-chomping to her nap sessions. Pandas can nap for up to 12 hours a day, so this was definitely in her favor. If all she had to do was be her panda self, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

As the years flew by, Fu-Bao leaned into her role. She perfected her dramatic bamboo-eating, threw in a few impressive but lazy rolls for the crowd, and occasionally climbed a tree just to keep things interesting. The humans loved her, and she kind of liked the attention too—especially when they brought extra bamboo.

Ten years later, when it was time to return to China, Fu-Bao left behind a fanbase, a comfy enclosure, and a trail of confused humans wondering if their favorite panda would ever come back. Celebrity life wasn’t so bad after all.