Washington’s biggest baby and perhaps most loved is leaving.

One week before the scheduled departure of Tai Shan for a new home in the mountains of central China, officials give us play by play of Tai Shan’s trip.

• Tai Shan will fly Feb. 4 nonstop from Dulles International Airport aboard a giant FedEx 777 F air freighter.
• The plane will be mostly empty, reserved especially for him and one other panda, and will have big black and white panda logos painted on its fuselage.
• Tai Shan, 4, is the only giant panda born at the zoo to survive beyond infancy, and his departure is breaking the hearts of panda fans across the Washington region.
• A farewell party is planned at the zoo Saturday, weather permitting, and many private goodbyes will take place in the week before he goes.

From birth to departure view the wusa9 Tai Shan slideshow