China sends two giant pandas to the US — Channel NewsAsia

On September 27, China sent two giant pandas from Chengdu to the United States — male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang. The animals departed on a charter flight from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport at approximately 03:00 local time, Channel NewsAsia reports.

Flight to Atlanta

The pandas are heading to Zoo Atlanta in the state of Georgia, where they will spend the next 10 years. According to Chinese state media outlet Global Times, the animals were provided with steamed corn buns, bamboo shoots and carrots for the 15-hour flight on a Boeing 777 operated by FedEx.

The US side sent experienced keepers to accompany the pandas during the flight. Before their departure, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding held a farewell ceremony for the pair.

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Zoo preparation

Zoo Atlanta prepared facilities for the pandas, assembled a team of keepers and secured stable long-term supplies of bamboo grown in Atlanta. The institution previously housed pandas provided by China for a quarter of a century from 1999, but it has had no such animals since 2024.

Ping Ping and Fu Shuang were born in 2020. In captivity, giant pandas usually live for about 30 years.

The dispatch of the pandas had been agreed earlier and was announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington. China has provided pandas to other countries for decades as part of so-called panda diplomacy.