Arrival marks new chapter in China-US cooperation on conservation, exchanges
Mark Fisher, a FedEx captain, was one of the pilots who flew giant pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang from Chengdu to Atlanta in September.
The flight took about 16 hours, Fisher said. "It was a long trip, and they were very well taken care of on the airplane. Now to see them in their new enclosure is very exciting for us," he said with his wife by his side. A native of Atlanta, he added that bringing the pandas to the city had been a great honor.
The pandas' new home in Atlanta, Arthur M. Blank Panda Grove, opened on Friday, marking their long-awaited public debut following their arrival in late September.
"Everybody's been talking about it locally, everybody's excited and (has) been waiting patiently for this day," Fisher said on Friday.
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The excitement was evident, with a long line of visitors forming outside Zoo Atlanta about an hour before its doors opened at 10:30 am. Many were eager to catch their first glimpse of the new residents from China, who had spent about a month in quarantine.
The zoo's previous panda pair, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, lived there from 1999 to 2024 and produced seven cubs, all of whom survived.
"I think today is a great reunion for us," Raymond King, president and CEO of Zoo Atlanta, told China Daily at the ribbon-cutting ceremony shortly before the zoo opened to the public.
"We've missed our pandas for two years, and the citizens of Atlanta have certainly missed them."
People come to see the pandas and often leave with a deeper appreciation of conservation and Chinese culture, King said.
"The relationships that have been established in that mutual partnership of conservation go a long way to bridge the differences that people perceive exist between the two cultures and find that, at the end of the day, while the governments may disagree at different times, the peoples want the same thing," he said.
"We all have shared values in family and friendships and preserving our environment. It breaks down a lot of the barriers that would otherwise exist," he said.
Addressing guests at the ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng said the arrival of the new panda pair was "a vivid testament to the practical subnational cooperation between China and the United States".
It would bring "fresh vitality to practical cooperation between China and Georgia, including the city of Atlanta, and usher in a new phase in China-US subnational engagement", he said.
Ping Ping and Fu Shuang arrived in Atlanta three days after President Xi Jinping announced during his state visit in September that the pandas would reach the city within days.
Xie also recounted Zoo Atlanta's history of panda conservation. Lun Lun and Yang Yang became the zoo's first panda residents in 1999. Over the next 25 years, under the meticulous care of the zoo's team, they produced seven cubs in five litters, including two sets of twins, setting a record for breeding success in China-US giant panda cooperation.
New resident Ping Ping is a natural continuation of that family lineage, Xie said, noting that Yang Yang is his uncle — his mother's elder brother.
Fu Shuang, meanwhile, comes from a well-known lineage. "Her father is no one else but the real-world inspiration behind Po, the main character of Kung Fu Panda 2," Xie said.
Most tracked flight
Xie also highlighted the pride of Atlanta residents whose homegrown bamboo was selected to feed the pandas. The FedEx Panda Express flight carrying Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, he added, was once the most-tracked international flight in the world.
"The arrival of the new pair of pandas is China's sincere response to the aspirations of the American people," Xie said. "Love for pandas is everywhere we turn."
The success of panda conservation in the US has contributed to "a joint China-US solution to global biodiversity protection" and serves "as a compelling example of how China and the United States working together can get a lot of big and great things done", he said.
Sonny Perdue, a former Georgia governor, veterinarian and chancellor of the University System of Georgia, recalled helping examine Mei Lan, Zoo Atlanta's first panda cub, in December 2006, when the cub was nearly 4 months old.
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Atlanta took pride in being home to one of only three US zoos with giant pandas and in taking part in international conservation partnerships that promote goodwill, he said.
King welcomed delegates from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, the China Wildlife Conservation Association, the Chinese embassy, as well as supporters and partners in the panda conservation programs from Atlanta.
"This extraordinary spirit of partnership helps create a future for a species that is truly beloved the world over," he said.
"For some, a visit to the Arthur M. Blank Panda Grove will become a cherished family memory. For others, it may spark a lifelong interest in wildlife, a commitment to conservation, or even a future career caring for animals," he said.
Contact the writers at mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com
