On the last day of her trip to China, Michelle Obama played with pandas at the Chengdu Panda Base with her mother and daughters, the Washington Post reported.
China has used the cute, fluffy animals as a way of connecting with the rest of the world, according to Henry Nicholls, author of "The Way of the Panda: The Curious History of China's Political Animal."
During World War II, China gave a panda to the Bronx Zoo as a thank you to the U.S. for assistance in the war.
"That was the beginning of China's use of the panda as a political tool," Nicholls said. "The panda was the obvious thing. It is a uniquely Chinese animal. It was very rare, very valuable, very coveted by the West, and crucially to Mao it had no associations with China's imperial past."
Mao Zedong, the country's first communist leader, gave pandas to their allies like Soviet Union and North Korea in the 1950s.
The Chengdu Panda Base, which was closed during the Obama family visit, included a tour of the panda cubs. When Bao Bao -- the newest cub at the National Zoo in Washington -- was born, the panda cam website crashed because of all the traffic it received.
Aside from the panda palace, the itinerary included visiting three cities -- Beijing, Chengdu, and Xi'an -- and three schools to discuss the significance of education and youth empowerment.
The first lady is scheduled to arrive back home in Washington on Wednesday evening, according to the Post.
