Giant pandas arrive at Zoo Atlanta for 10-year stay

Atlanta's newest celebrities arrived in style on Sunday, as two giant pandas from China touched down at Hartsfield-Jackson airport aboard a jumbo jet dubbed the FedEx Panda Express.



Two years after the city sent its last bears home to China, giant pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang landed to take up residence at Zoo Atlanta, one of three US zoos to house the bears.



Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a state visit on Thursday that the pandas would soon be on their way.



Xi described them as "an envoy of friendship" between China and the US.



China claims ownership of all the world's pandas and leases them to foreign zoos in a practice known as "panda diplomacy.



" Any cubs born abroad remain Chinese property.



The pair traveled to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport aboard a dedicated Boeing 777 emblazoned with a panda logo, with FedEx donating the transport costs, Zoo Atlanta confirmed.