{"id":671665,"date":"2026-05-15T17:57:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/671665\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T17:57:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:57:15","slug":"pandas-set-for-8000-mile-blind-date-in-atlanta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/671665\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandas set for 8,000-mile blind date in Atlanta"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHENGDU, China \u2014 They\u2019ve never met, but Ping Ping and Fu Shuang are getting ready for the blind date of a lifetime. The two pandas are preparing to leave China on a nearly 8,000-mile trip to their new home in Atlanta<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Ping Ping and Fu Shuang will make the lengthy journey from their current home in Chengdu<\/a>, a city of over 20 million people in southwestern China<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Ping Ping is an avid bamboo eater, Fu Shuang \u2014 whose name means \u201cdouble happiness\u201d \u2014 is playful but a bit timid. She also enjoys snacking on apples and resting her chin on her paw. <\/p>\n

The pair will eventually be moved to another panda base farther south before they begin their journey to America.<\/p>\n

\"FuFu Shuang in Chengdu, China, in early May.Fred Dufour \/ NBC News<\/p>\n

\u201cSince they have the black-and-white fur, that can make them look so cute,\u201d 10-year-old Emma said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in Chengdu to see an animal that represents China,\u201d said 28-year-old Li Shu, who traveled over 1,700 miles to visit the pandas. \u201cI\u2019m proud. I like them because they are cute.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pandas, whose travel date has not yet been announced, have never met. They will be sent to Atlanta as part of a new 10-year conservation agreement announced ahead of President Donald Trump\u2019s visit to China.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Zoo Atlanta said it was \u201cdelighted\u201d and \u201chonored\u201d to continue conservation and research efforts alongside the China Wildlife Conservation Association. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t wait to meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang and to welcome our Members, guests, city, and community back to the wonder and joy of giant pandas,\u201d said Raymond B. King, the zoo\u2019s president and CEO.<\/p>\n

More from NBC News in China<\/p>\n

The zoo has housed a pair of pandas before, with Lun Lun and Yang Yang becoming star attractions there back in 1999. They called Atlanta home for 25 years and welcomed seven cubs in their time there, but they returned to China in 2024.<\/p>\n

China, the only country where giant pandas live in the wild, keeps a firm handle on their international distribution. Beijing lends pandas to other countries <\/a>but maintains ownership, including over any cubs they produce.<\/p>\n

In recent years, China has resumed sending pandas to the U.S. as a gesture of goodwill.<\/p>\n

In June 2024, two giant pandas were sent to San Diego, marking the first such arrival to the U.S. in more than two decades<\/a>. Four months later, another pair \u2014 Bao Li and Qing Bao \u2014 arrived at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Zoo<\/a> in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

The withdrawal of a country\u2019s panda privileges has sometimes been interpreted as an act of displeasure by China. Japan\u2019s last pandas were returned to China in January<\/a>, with Tokyo\u2019s relations with Beijing at their lowest point in years.<\/p>\n

While it is not specifically tied to Trump\u2019s visit, the latest gesture has parallels across history. In 1972, China\u2019s Mao Zedong marked President Richard Nixon\u2019s visit to China by gifting the U.S. two pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing.<\/p>\n

Janis Mackey Frayer and Dawn Liu reported from Chengdu, China, and Jay Ganglani from Hong Kong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHENGDU, China \u2014 They\u2019ve never met, but Ping Ping and Fu Shuang are getting ready for the blind…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-671665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}