Millions of Chinese people have watched the farewell party for 22-year-old giant panda Ya Ya at Memphis Zoo in the United States ahead of her long-awaited return to China.

On April 8, the US zoo marked the end of a 20-year loan agreement with the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens of which Ya Ya was the subject, with a giant iced cake dotted with her favourite sugarcane and grapes.

The event also saw a performance by the Tennessee Happy Kung Fu School.

Several mainland Chinese media outlets broadcast the party live and the hashtag “Ya Ya eats iced fruit cake” was viewed on the microblogging platform Weibo more than 100 million times.

While the date of her homecoming remains unconfirmed, the zoo’s spokesperson Rebecca Winchester said she will “likely head back to China at the end of the month”.

Calls for Ya Ya’s return reached fever pitch after her male partner Le Le, who arrived at the zoo with her in 2003, died unexpectedly of heart disease in February.

Some people have been closely watching the bears’ progress via the zoo’s online surveillance videos, expressed their concerns over the living conditions and health of the pair, who appeared to be skinny and suffering from skin diseases.

Advocacy groups such as Panda Voices also said the pandas appeared to be having difficulty swallowing the bamboo provided by the zoo and were begging for food from visitors, suspecting neglect and even mistreatment of the bears.

Some compared Ya Ya and Le Le with Xiang Xiang, the Japanese-born panda that enjoyed huge popularity in the country before its return to China this February, and the South Korea-born panda Fu Bao, nicknamed “princess” by its caretakers, calling them “the unluckiest pandas in the world”.

Memphis Zoo denied the allegations, saying that Ya Ya’s small size was genetic and her chronic skin and fur condition was caused by immune system deficiencies and hormonal fluctuations.

A team of Chinese experts arrived at the zoo on March 16 to prepare Ya Ya for her return to China and help the local staff monitor her health.

The plan is to fly her to Shanghai for a month-long period of quarantine before sending her to live in Beijing Zoo where she was born.

The Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens said in March that the Beijing Zoo has geared up for Ya Ya’s homecoming in terms of breeding environment, feeding plans, medical care and feed supplies, People’s Daily reported.

 - SCMP