The annual ZooLights Festival is ongoing at the National Zoo. It's lots of fun & this year if you're in the DC-area, you have a special reason to go. This is adorable panda Tai Shan's last Christmas in America. He will travel to China & take up residence quite soon. Throughout ZooLights, the Giant Panda Habitat will be open for extended hours for those who wish to bid farewell to Tai Shan before he departs for China in early 2010. The Chinese have extended Tai's stay twice due to pleas from the public. This time the departure is for real, so go as soon as you can. [photographs by Rachel Cooper]ciao-cheery-meow/GG & her editor