Two giant pandas have left China on a flight to their new home at an Atlanta zoo, the latest envoys in Beijing's long tradition of using "panda diplomacy" to strengthen relations with other countries.
The official Chinese Xinhua News Agency reported that the pair of pandas left the city of Chengdu, located in southwestern China, at 2:55 a.m. Sunday local time (2:55 p.m. Saturday, East Coast time in the United States). This trip came just one day after the conclusion of the state visit made by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Washington.
During the visit, which aimed to address the escalating tensions between the United States and China, Xi and US President Donald Trump extended the trade truce between the two countries and agreed to establish an artificial intelligence hotline between them.
A video broadcast by Xinhua showed fans waving banners as trucks carrying the two pandas headed to the airport from the “Giant Panda Breeding Research Base” in Sichuan Province. The vehicles then transported two boxes to the plane, where they were lifted inside in preparation for the flight, which is expected to take about 15 hours.
China has also sent a number of veterinarians and panda keepers to stay at Zoo Atlanta, where the pandas will undergo quarantine upon arrival, according to the agency.
Xinhua added that the Zoo Atlanta team and the Chinese team held “several online and in-person meetings to have in-depth discussions on the development and renovation plan” of the facility that will house the pandas, which will arrive in the United States on loan from the Chinese government.
Pandas, with their rare size, thick fur, and adorable appearance, are very popular around the world. In the past, these animals roamed vast areas of China, along with parts of northern Myanmar and Vietnam, but human expansion and climate change have led to the habitat of bears that feed on bamboo shrinking, to be limited to six mountain ranges above the Sichuan Basin, in the remote interior regions of China.
Sichuan, which was described in imperial times as a "land of heavenly abundance", has in recent years been known as the "Home of the Panda". The mountainous province includes a wide network of natural reserves and panda breeding centers, all of which were built in recent decades as part of efforts by China and the world to save these animals, whose history dates back millions of years, from extinction.
The provincial capital, Chengdu, a sprawling city famous for its hot pot restaurants and ancient tea houses, lies at the foot of snow-capped mountains, surrounded by misty ancient forests where wild pandas still roam.
The panda breeding base in the city is the largest of its kind in China, as it includes more than 240 pandas, or about a third of the number of pandas in captivity around the world. The sprawling facility attracts up to 11 million visitors annually, a number almost equal to the number of visitors to Shanghai Disneyland.
Restoring relationships and gaining new partners
Loaning pandas has long been a tool of Chinese diplomacy, following a decades-long government effort to turn the once widely unknown animals into a cultural icon and national symbol. For more than half a century, Beijing has sent these beloved animals abroad to strengthen alliances, repair strained relationships, and woo new partners.
“The giant panda has been an ambassador of friendship between Chinese and Americans,” Xi said Thursday, referring to the half-century during which pandas have lived in American zoos on loan from the Chinese government.
This tradition was started by Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong in 1972, shortly after Richard Nixon became the first American president to visit China since the Communist Party came to power in 1949.
One of the two pandas bound for Atlanta even bears the same name as Pingping, meaning "peace," carried by the first-ever panda given to the Soviet Union by Mao in 1957. Born on March 17, 2020, Pingping has large black spots around his eyes and is especially skilled at climbing trees, according to China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
The other panda, Fu Shuang, whose name means "double blessing," was born seven months later, on October 18. It has a small tuft of fur on top of its head, and a slightly prominent forehead, and it finds food very easily, according to the administration.
Panda breeders at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base chose the pair after taking into account their age, health condition, genetic characteristics and personality.
“They should be calm and love each other, and we hope they can mate naturally,” Li Mingxi, deputy director of the park, told Chinese state television CCTV.
The panda is scheduled to arrive in Atlanta early Sunday morning local time. The zoo has hosted several pandas before. Another pair, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, gave birth to seven pups there between 2006 and 2016, before returning to Chengdu.
Zoo Atlanta said earlier this year that it would be "happy and honored" to welcome the panda.
A sign was hung in the park on Saturday, reading: “The future home of Pingping and Fu Shuang.”
A representative for Zoo Atlanta said the facility would not share information about the arrival date of Pingping and Fu Shuang, and declined to comment further.
Xinhua said that Chinese officials and Zoo Atlanta "will conduct in-depth academic and cultural exchanges to continuously enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of China and the United States."
“Panda diplomacy” has offered a respite from the tensions that have increasingly shaped the relationship between the United States and China in recent years, as the two countries compete in an artificial intelligence race and are engaged in an escalating trade war.
A giant panda arrived in San Diego in June 2024, the first time China allowed a new panda to be sent to the United States in more than two decades. Later that same year, a second pair headed to the National Zoo in Washington.
"It's hard to say goodbye to them."
In preparation for the move, Pingping and Fu Shuang underwent a month-long quarantine, accompanied by a group of their live-in caregivers, according to Li. The panda was also trained for the long journey, and became accustomed to the box designated for transporting it and the loud noises.
In a report broadcast by Chinese state television CCTV ahead of the upcoming trip to the United States, a panda breeder was asked to describe the duo.
Their nanny, Fu Jia, said: “Pingping is brave and gentle. During training sessions, when he sees me holding an apple, he makes soft whining sounds, eager to get the reward.”
Fu Shuang, on the other hand, “loves honey.”
She added that saying goodbye to the duo will not be easy.
“After taking care of them for so long... it's like raising your own children,” she said.
She added: "They weighed just over 100 grams at birth, and we nurtured their growth until they became heavy. I will not be able to see them for a long time, so it is difficult to say goodbye to them."
Late Saturday evening, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng posted photos of the two pandas on his Twitter account on X, previously saying they were on their way to the United States.
He wrote: "Get ready to welcome our two furry stars!"
