2 pandas arrive in China from Japan

Upon arrival, they were sent to the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center's Bifengxia base in Ya'an in the province.

They are expected to go on public display after quarantine.

The two pandas left Ueno Zoo, where they were born in 2021, by truck Tuesday afternoon and were flown from Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, later that night.

Many fans gathered outside the zoo and at the airport, while a flight believed to be carrying the animals briefly became the most tracked aircraft on Flightradar24, a global flight tracker.

The transfer of the two pandas was based on an agreement with the Chinese side, bringing the number of pandas in Japan to zero for the first time in about half a century.

The Ya'an Bifengxia base is located in a mountainous area more than 100 kilometers southwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province.

The two pandas' mother Shin Shin and sister Xiang Xiang live at the facility.

It is uncertain when and where Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei will be open to the public.

Xiang Xiang went on display about eight months after her arrival in China from Japan.