00:00Thousands of visitors gathered at Uenozoo in Tokyo over the weekend to bid farewell to Japan's last two pandas ahead of their return to China tomorrow.
00:12The departures of twin cups, Xiao Xiao and Lele will leave Japan without any pandas for the first time since 1972, the year Tokyo and Beijing normalized diplomatic ties.
00:24Zoo-goers reportedly queued for up to three and a half hours for a final glimpse of the iconic animals.
00:33Long lines had been forming for weeks ahead of the panda's final public appearance, prompting the zoo to introduce a lottery system for tickets.
00:42According to Tokyo's metropolitan government, some 108,000 people sought to get one of the 4,400 slots available.
00:50Although they were born in Tokyo, China retains ownership of the pandas under the terms of Beijing's so-called panda diplomacy.
00:58Their return comes at a tense moment in China-Japan relations after ties soured over remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sana'i Takaichi,
01:06who suggested that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could trigger a military response from Japan.
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