The loaned panda Ya Ya was flown home to China on a special "panda express" flight after 22 years in the United States. The events surrounding the female panda have become a symbol of the deteriorating relationship between the two superpowers of the world.
China has used pandas as a political tool in international relations to show good faith. The bear couple Ya Ya and Le Le arrived at the Memphis zoo in 2003 with great pomp and circumstance, since then the loan was renewed for another decade in 2013.