大熊猫平平和福双抵达亚特兰大：熊猫外交又一次登场

On September 27, a special "delivery" arrived in Atlanta, in America.

Two giant pandas, a male called Ping Ping and a female called Fu Shuang, set off from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and flew overnight to Atlanta's airport.

The cargo plane had a giant panda eating bamboo painted on it.

The only passengers on board were the two pandas, along with fresh bamboo, water and their favourite snacks.

Experts from the zoo stayed with them the whole way.

Ping Ping and Fu Shuang were both born in China in 2020.

According to Chinese state media, they will live at Zoo Atlanta for ten years.

For now they're in quarantine and will be watched closely for about a month.

Just three days earlier, Xi Jinping said in Washington that China would soon send "envoys of friendship" to America.

It was Xi Jinping's first visit to the White House in more than ten years.

After meeting Trump, he announced that China would send a pair of giant pandas to Zoo Atlanta.

During the visit, Xi Jinping called the pandas a symbol of friendship between China and America.

But behind the lively welcome ceremonies, the tension between the two countries hasn't gone away, over issues such as trade and Taiwan.

Apart from the pandas, the meeting produced few concrete diplomatic results.

Professor Repnikova of Georgia State University says lending pandas is China's way of trying to soften its image.

The professor says China's soft-power diplomacy is often very rigid, but panda diplomacy is one area where China has been very successful.

Pandas are very appealing to Americans, especially young people.

"Panda diplomacy" goes back to 1972.

That year, American President Nixon visited Beijing.

Nixon's wife told Premier Zhou Enlai that she loved pandas.

After that, China sent a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington.

Over the next twenty years, the pair had five cubs, but sadly none survived.

Even so, they drew millions of visitors.

Zoo Atlanta used to have pandas too; in 2024, its four pandas went back to Chengdu together.

So although nobody could see Ping Ping and Fu Shuang on Sunday, the zoo was still buzzing.

A woman who brought her little daughter to the zoo said: even though we can't see them today, we know they're here!

She saw the earlier pandas two years ago, and she said they were very cute, though they mostly just sat there.

With Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, America now has six giant pandas in total.

In 2024, China also sent one pair to San Diego and another to Washington.

Do you think two pandas can improve relations between two countries?