It is impossible for film buffs not to love and adore "Po" the Panda, the modern-day Kung Fu master from China in "Kung Fu Panda" film franchise.
The love for giant pandas continues in real life too as the first pair of these animals will arrive in Britain on Sunday to be housed at the Edinburgh Zoo.
After years of diplomatic negotiations between Britain and China, the eight-year-old breeding pair of giant pandas - Tian Tian and Yang Guang - will set foot on the UK soil, reported the Daily Mail.
The pair whose translated names are Sweetie and Sunshine will arrive at the Edinburgh Zoo at 1 pm on Sunday following a 26-hour long journey on board a specially-chartered FedEx Panda Express flight from south-west China. The giant pandas will be taken to their new £300,000 enclosure in branded "panda vans."
For their grand reception, pipers will be played to welcome the giant pandas' arrival at the zoo along with greetings from the dignitaries representing China, the UK, Scotland and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.
The giant pandas, which have two weeks to settle in to their new surroundings, will go on a public show from Dec. 16. With a current population of around 1,500 species of giant pandas, the "new entrants" will be kept under a strict six-month quarantine, with keepers wearing protective suits and being trained in avoiding bites, amid concerns the pandas could be carrying rabies, reported the Daily Mail.
Staff transport panda Tian Tian in a cage at the Bifengxia panda breeding centre in Ya'an, Sichuan province December 3, 2011. Two pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, will be loaned to a zoo in Britain for ten years, and are expected to arrive in Edinburgh on December 4.REUTERSGiant panda Tian Tian holds a bamboo shoot at Bifengxia panda breeding centre in Ya'an, Sichuan province December 2, 2011. Two pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang who are being loaned to Edinburgh zoo for ten years, are expected to depart China for Edinburgh this Sunday.REUTERSGiant panda Yang Guang is seen eating bamboo branches through a whole of a FedEx container at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Sichuan province December 4, 2011. The two giant pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, will be loaned to a zoo in Britain for ten years, and expected to arrive in Edinburgh on December 4.REUTERSGiant panda Tian Tian holds a bamboo shoot at Bifengxia panda breeding centre in Ya'an, Sichuan province December 2, 2011. Two pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang who are being loaned to Edinburgh zoo for ten years, are expected to depart China for Edinburgh this Sunday.REUTERSGiant panda Yang Guang walks at Bifengxia panda breeding centre in Ya'an, Sichuan province December 2, 2011. Two pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang who are being loaned to Edinburgh zoo for ten years, are expected to depart China for Edinburgh this Sunday.REUTERSGiant panda Yang Guang holds a bamboo shoot at Bifengxia panda breeding centre in Ya'an, Sichuan province December 2, 2011. Two pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang who are being loaned to Edinburgh zoo for ten years, are expected to depart China for Edinburgh this Sunday.REUTERS
