Panda Tai Shan's Farewell Party (PHOTOS)

The National Zoo's treasure, giant panda Tai Shan, is departing for China on Feb. 4, and the Washington, D.C. zoo made sure to send him off in style, giving him a farewell party on Saturday, Jan. 30, complete with cake and dancing.

Tai Shan is being sent back as part of a long-standing agreement made with the Chinese government. Tai Shan's mother, Mei Xiang, and father, Tian Tian, are on a 10-year, $10-million loan to the zoo until December 2010, the AP reported. Under the agreement, any panda cub born at the zoo must be returned to China for breeding.

See photos from the zoo's farewell to Tai Shan:

Celebratory Cake

Tai Shan hugs his celebratory frozen cake, which was made of apples, carrots, beets and bamboo.

comments(4)

Rate This Photo (Current Rank: loading...)

Where Are The Fireworks? Now That's A Send Off

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Now Make Your Own Top 5

And Share with Your Friends

Average rating: loading... out of 10

Top 5 Tai Shan Photos

loading...

Top 5 Tai Shan Photos

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

Top 5 Tai Shan Photos

Users Who Voted on this Slide

loading...

loading...

HuffPost Community Top 5 Slides:

«»

 | Become a fan

Top 5 Tai Shan Photos