The dreaded moment is finally upon us: beloved giant panda Bei Bei is leaving to China in just 12 days.

Next week, the zoo has planned a variety of events to help legions of local (and not-so-local) Bei Bei fans come to terms with his departure. From November 11-18, the zoo will hold Q&As with panda keepers, public snack times for Bei Bei with special frozen fruitcicles and bamboo, and other events. A postcard station will be set up next to Bei Bei’s outdoor habitat where people can write their goodbyes to the panda, who is leaving to China as part of a breeding agreement between the National Zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association.

Bei Bei is the third giant panda cub to be born at the National Zoo to parents Mei Xiang and Tian Tian. The two adult pandas were gifted to the zoo on loan as part of a breeding agreement which stipulates that all cubs born stateside have to be sent to China at four years old. In 2010, cub Tai Shan was sent to China, and in 2017, we had to say goodbye to Bao Bao.

But there’s something that especially hurts about bidding adieu to Bei Bei.

“You know, technology has changed. This bear, Bei Bei, he was born on our panda cam. So literally tens of thousands of people, millions of people, have been watching him since birth, and we know that,” says Pamela Baker-Masson, associate director of communications and exhibits at the zoo. “There are panda fans. He’s very charismatic, he’s delightful … so because we know that, and because we know people are very attached to him, we planned this week-long conservation celebration.”

The big goodbye event is happening on Nov. 16, when the Embassy of China will supply free dumplings for panda visitors starting at 8:30 a.m., while Airbnb will supply hot cocoa. All three pandas in the exhibit—Bei Bei, his mother Mei Xiang, and his father Tian Tian—will get ice cakes in celebration of Bei Bei’s new adventure. There will also be a friendship and luck bracelet station, in honor of the symbol Mei Xiang chose for Bei Bei at his traditional zhuazhou ceremony at his first birthday.

If you can’t make it to any of the events in person, worry not: starting next week, one of the panda cams will be trained on Bei Bei 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (For a full list of the week’s events, see here.)

Baker-Masson says they know from their experience with Bao Bao that the zoo can expect an uptick in visitors over the next week, as well as an uptick in people watching the panda cam.

“I can tell you anecdotally … we’re getting emails, texts, instant messages. People are driving from states away to come and say their goodbye,” says Baker-Masson. She says the zoo has already started getting messages asking them to train the panda cam on Bei Bei (there are two panda cams and three pandas, which means there has to be some sharing).

On November 19, the day of Bei Bei’s departure, the zoo will be closed to visitors in the morning as staff focuses on preparing the panda for his 16-hour trip to Chengdu, China in a private B777 aircraft from FedEx. On the flight, chief veterinarian Dr. Don Neiffer and giant panda curator (and one of Bei Bei’s favorite people) Laurie Thompson will accompany Bei Bei and feed him a steady stream of snacks. Over the last several weeks, the panda’s handlers have been getting him accustomed to the custom crate he’ll be traveling in, training him to walk through it and then to stay inside while they feed him treats.

“Bei Bei is really responsive to training, he loves working with his keepers. So training him to walk in and out took like a few minutes,” says Brandie Smith, the deputy director and head of animal care at the zoo. The panda now associates the crate with food, and his keepers anticipate he’ll be perfectly comfortable there on his flight.

Once in China, Smith says, Bei Bei’s two keepers will stay with him for a few days to make sure he’s comfortable. But they anticipate that it won’t take the panda long to get used to his new surroundings and handlers—in fact, his departure will likely be harder on the zoo staff that have cared for him over the last four years.

“A lot of people across the zoo are just making it a point to go down to the panda house to see him, not just one last time but several more last times,” Smith says. “In terms of the Panda House staff … he’s so special. He has got such a great personality, and he has been so interactive with all the keepers and all the people who care for him, so it’s going to be really hard when he leaves.”

Bei Bei will become part of a breeding program in China, where he’ll (hopefully) sire lots of little pandas that might one day roam wild in their natural habitat.

This story has been updated to clarify that the goodbye events for Bei Bei run from Nov. 11-18, not Nov. 11-19.