Bamboo farmers in Virginia are working hard to feed the two new pandas sent by China to the Smithsonian National Museum in Washington DC.

After a hiatus of 14 months, giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao captivated a passionate crowd of patrons and officials at the zoo as they made their public debut on Friday morning.

Even with a new administration only a few days old, Washington's newest stars from China stole the spotlight on Friday when a pair of three-year-old giant pandas made their public debut at the National Zoo.