On February 22 two giant pandas departed from Chengdu and traveled to Belgium where they will stay for 15 years in the Pairi Daiza Zoo. Both pandas are from the Bifengxia Panda Base. The male, Xing Hui, was born on July 22，2009, and the female, Hao Hao, on July 7,2009.
The day the pandas left, a ceremony was held at Dujiangyan’s new Qingcheng Mountain Veterinary Center of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. Pairi Daiza’s zoo director, officials from the State Forestry Administration and China Wildlife Conservation Association, and the Belgian ambassador in China all attended, and the pandas received a symbolic visa from Belgium. They flew to Belgium via a DHL flight and arrived at the Zaventem Brussels International Airport on Sunday, February 23. DHL decorated the plane with the slogan “Hao Hao and Xing Hui’s Pandastic Journey”.
