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The more time you spend in a place, the more things you’re likely to notice about it. So it makes sense that after nearly a year of quarantining and social distancing, our readers asked pointed questions both practical (how to travel across town) and theoretical (what’s behind PoPville’s continued popularity) about life in D.C. To answer them, we dug through documents, consulted previous reporting, and called our reliable sources special thanks to the staff at the Office of Planning and WMATA, who field many requests every time this issue rolls around. As we wait for vaccinations and plan to spend several more months close to home, we hope some of these answers prompt you to safely explore a new place, or
February 10th, 2021, 8:44AM / BY Laurie Thompson, Marty Dearie and Mariel Lally
January was a month full of firsts for giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji. The growing bear played with enrichment toys, took his first bites of sweet potato and bamboo, and had his first encounter with snow!
January was a month full of firsts for the Smithsonian s National Zoo s giant panda cub, Xiao Qi Ji. The growing bear played with his first enrichment toys, sampled his first sweet potato, took his first bite of bamboo, let fans into his habitat during his first livestream and experienced his first encounter with snow! Through each of these milestones, giant panda assistant curator Laurie Thompson and keepers Marty Dearie and Mariel Lally helped keep fans at home connected to our cub.
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian enjoyed the fresh snow in Washington, DC (Credit: Smithsonian s National Zoo/YouTube screen capture)
This week s severe winter storm, which dumped record amounts of snow in the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, had most residents scrambling for the safety and warmth of their homes. However, the animals at the Smithsonian s National Zoo were not going to let Washington, DC s first significant snowfall in two years go to waste.
The zoo s adult giant pandas 22-year-old Mei Xiang and 23-year-old Tian Tian were the first to venture out to frolic in the fresh powder. In a video released by officials on February 1, 2021, the two are seen sliding downhill, doing somersaults, and just having a good time playing in the icy precipitation.