Two giant pandas on loan from the Chinese government, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, arrived in Atlanta on Sunday and were headed to Zoo Atlanta, CNN reported. The pandas departed Chengdu, in China’s Sichuan province, on a FedEx cargo flight and arrived the same day, drawing a warm welcome given how rare the animals are at US zoos.
Zoo Atlanta had gone without pandas for about two years after its original loan agreement — which began in 1999 with the arrival of Yang Yang and Lun Lun — expired in 2024, prompting the return of four pandas to China. That gap ended when Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the new loan during his visit to Washington.
The pandas departed Chengdu early Sunday, the day after Xi’s state visit to Washington concluded, according to Xinhua, China’s state news agency. Video released by Xinhua showed fans waving placards as vehicles carrying the pandas headed from the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Sichuan to the airport, where the animals’ crates were loaded aboard ahead of a roughly 16-hour flight. China also sent several veterinarians and keepers to Zoo Atlanta to care for the pandas during quarantine after their arrival.
Giant pandas are native to China, with wild populations found only in mountainous regions of central and western China, including Sichuan province. The bears once ranged across a much wider swath of China as well as parts of northern Myanmar and Vietnam, but human development and climate change have sharply shrunk their habitat. As a result, nearly all pandas at zoos worldwide are Chinese-owned, and other countries display them under loan agreements with the Chinese government. Ping Ping and Fu Shuang are on a 10-year loan, and cubs born during such loans are typically sent to China once they reach about four years old.
Ping Ping’s name means “peace,” while Fu Shuang’s means “double blessings”; both pandas were born in 2020. Chinese authorities described Ping Ping by his dark eye patches and tree-climbing skills, and Fu Shuang by her protruding forehead and hearty appetite. Officials at the Chengdu panda breeding base said the pair was selected based on age, health, genetics and temperament, with the goal of pairing bears compatible enough to breed naturally in Atlanta.
South Korea is also a recipient of China’s panda diplomacy. Le Bao and Ai Bao, a pair on loan since 2016, live at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Their first cub, Fu Bao, born in 2020, was returned to China in April 2024 under the loan agreement. Twins Rui Bao and Hui Bao, born in 2023, and a fourth cub born in June 2026 remain at Everland, bringing the total to three cubs currently there.
Speaking at a White House event, Xi called giant pandas “envoys of friendship” between the Chinese and American peoples, invoking the half-century-old tradition of panda diplomacy that Mao Zedong began in 1972. New pandas also arrived at the San Diego Zoo and Washington’s National Zoo in 2024, making the Atlanta arrival the latest chapter in that tradition even as US-China tensions persist.
Late Saturday, Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng posted photos of the two pandas on X, writing, “Get ready to greet our two fluffy stars!” Zoo Atlanta had earlier said it would be “delighted and honored” to welcome the pair.
