South Koreans bid emotional farewell to beloved panda leaving for China

A vehicle carrying Fu Bao, the first giant panda born in South Korea, arrives for a farewell ceremony (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A crowd of people, some crying, gathered at a rain-soaked amusement park in South Korea to bid farewell to a beloved giant panda before her departure to China.

Fu Bao has been a major attraction at the Everland theme park near Seoul since she was born there in 2020 to pandas Ai Bao and Le Bao, who came from China in 2016 on a 15-year lease programme.