Chinese giant panda power couple Jin Xi and Zhu Yu arrive in Madrid

‌Madrid's new celebrity Chinese giant panda power couple are here! Jin Xi and Zhu Yu flew direct from Chengdu on a private jet - a chartered cargo plane all for them - landing in the Spanish capital on Monday, ready to paint the town black and white and win over Spanish hearts.

With the aircon set to a cool 18 degrees Celsius and 200 kilos of bamboo packed for mid-flight snacks, it was a laid-back trip, accompanied by panda handlers from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and a vet.

After a successful journey the pandas are already acclimatizing to their new life in the sun and the excitement in Madrid zoo is visible.

"The giant panda couple who have just arrived are very young - both are just three years old," says Rebeca Ortega, a Madrid Zoo panda handler. "‌The male's name is Jin Xi and he has a lovely little patch on this side of his face that makes him really easy to recognize, and the female is Zhu Yu. These young pandas are really active, curious, they love investigating and discovering everything about their new home."

‌Now the question that everyone in Madrid wants to know is, when can we meet them?

‌"Everyone can meet them in a few weeks," says Eva Martinez, Madrid Zoo's resident panda vet. "The quarantine process usually lasts a month when we closely follow all the details of their adaptation and how they are eating.

"Access is limited during this time to the vets, the handlers, and the experts who have traveled from Chengdu, so we ask for patience, but they arrived in perfect health and are adapting well already."

‌Fond farewell

‌Two months ago the city said goodbye to beloved residents Bing Xing and Hua Zui Ba who spent almost two decades in the Spanish capital, and many tears were shed at Madrid Zoo when they left. The new arrivals have a lot to live up to.

Hua Zui Ba and Bing Xing arrived at Madrid Zoo in 2007 and quickly became part of the family, soon creating their own family too, bringing six baby panda cubs into the world including twins You You and Jiu Jiu who instantly won Spanish hearts.

But after 17 years of service, Bing Xing and Hua Zui Ba retired to the quiet life in Chengdu.

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Now there's hope that Jin Xi and Zhu Yu will also breed successfully in Spain, all part of a global conservation program that's helping giant panda numbers recover worldwide.

But Madrid will have to be patient. Panda handler and conservationist Maria Delclaux told CGTN: "For them everything is new so we have to be really patient and calm with them, help them during this process of adaptation."

"Handlers from the Chengdu center who know the pandas will stay here for three months throughout this period of adaptation.‌ This new couple are really young, only three years old, they're really active and they love to play and investigate their surroundings.

"As they're so young they haven't reached sexual maturity yet so we have to wait until the female is fertile which usually happens when they are around five, but that isn't fixed, it depends on each individual.‌ So we might have to wait for some new baby panda cubs."

‌The pandas are a symbol too of the friendship and ever closer ties between China and Spain.

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