Panda mania hit Singapore Thursday morning when two of the Chinese animals arrived in the city state, dpa reported. Kai Kai and Jia Jia flew in on a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 and were received by a welcome committee on the tarmac at Changi Airport. The trip from their home in Chengdu in Sichuan was organized to lessen the stress on the endangered animals. They flew at night to reduce the temperature difference and travelled in specially constructed cages. The meal in Panda Class consisted of fruit, water and about 90 kilograms of bamboo served by a staff of five Chinese and Singaporean helpers. The pandas are on a 10-year loan from the Chinese government as a friendly gesture symbolizing "two decades of strong ties" between mainland China and Singapore, whose population is mostly ethnic Chinese. Kai Kai and Jia Jia were immediately taken to the quarantine facilities at their future home, a themed zoo called River Safari. Hundreds of panda fans were waiting outside to get a glimpse of the animals as part of a panda craze which has seen Singapore issue panda stamps and a commemorative set of panda coins. After quarantine, the pandas will get time to familiarize themselves with their new surroundings before the giant panda exhibition opens in December.
