China's giant pandas arrive at new home in Belgian zoo(2)

Children welcome giant pandas Xing Hui and Hao Hao at the Brussels National Airport in the capital of Belgium on Feb 23, 2014. The pair of giant pandas, Xing Hui, the male, and Hao Hao, the female, arrived in Belgium Sunday, on lease from their breeding center in southwest China's Sichuan province. They are both four years old and will stay in Belgium for the next 15 years. (Xinhua/Sun Wen)

They also said that the zoo will first try feeding the pandas 40 different varieties of bamboo, supplied from France and the Netherlands. Then depending on which varieties Hao hao and Xing Hui most like, Pairi Daiza have allocated 4 hectares of land to grow bamboo plantations for the duo.

In 1987, two giant pandas visited Belgium but only stayed a few months. Built on ruins of a medieval monastery, Pairi Daiza Zoo was praised as one of the best zoo in Europe, and has the largest Chinese garden in it. Some of the rare Chinese animal such as the Red Crowned Crane and the red panda has been settle down there.

Giant pandas are one of the world's most endangered species. About 1,600 live in the wild, mostly in the mountains of Sichuan, while more than 300 live in captivity.

Known as China's "national gem," more than 40 pandas are on lease, and their offspring now live in 18 zoos in 13 countries. The lease term is usually 10 years.

Xing Hui and Hao Hao are the first two giant pandas China has sent overseas for a lease term of 15 years.