Pandas receive rockstar reception in Belgium

A Belgian boy wearing a panda cap waves Chinese and Belgian flags to welcome a giant panda couple to their new home. [Photo/Xinhua]

BRUGELETTE -- Helicopter hovering overhead, thousands of cheering fans, music blaring from loudspeakers...one would be forgiven for thinking famous rockstars were coming to the Pairi Daiza zoo, 60km southwest of Brussels, on Sunday.

But then again, few rockstars would be received personally at the airport by the country's prime minister, deputy prime minister, defense minister and then be given a police escort to their final destination.

Such were the courtesies extended by Belgian authorities to Hao Hao and Xing Hui -- the first giant pandas China has sent overseas for a lease term of 15 years instead of the usual ten.

A PLUSH HOME

Back at the Pairi Daiza zoo, some 2,000 people, many of them excited children with painted faces and Chinese and Belgian flags in hand, welcomed the panda pair to their new home in Belgium.

And it's quite a swanky home at that. The zoo spent 8 million euros ($11 million) constructing a brand new 5,300 square-meter Chinese garden. Each panda will have separate indoor and outdoor areas spanning 830 square meters.

Park officials plan to offer the pandas 40 different varieties of bamboo sourced from in and around Belgium before attempting to grow their favorite types on campus. The bears will also have two Chinese experts supervising them 24/7 for their first six months in the country.

Hao Hao, the female, and Xing Hui, the male, have until early April to acclimatize to their new surroundings before the zoo is opened to a maximum of 18,000 visitors a day.

Even though visitors on Sunday could only observe the new arrivals through closed-circuit television in the park's reception, they generated much excitement among the young and old alike.

"It's really exciting to have pandas arriving in Belgium," 8-year-old Arnaud Martins told Xinhua. "They're really beautiful and really rare," he said.

"After today, my children and I are inspired to maybe travel to China to learn more about these magnificent creatures," visitor Simone Thomas stated.

Zoo gets ready for pandas

Giant pandas arrive at Belgian zoo

Panda 'couple' ready for the trip