Special report: 2008 Olympic Games

Newly arrived giant pandas have a light moment at Beijing Zoo in Beijing, capital of China, May 24, 2008. Eight giant pandas from the quake-hit Sichuan Porvince are airlifed to Beijing Saturday to add cheer to the upcoming Beijing Olympics.  (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    CHENGDU, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Eight giant pandas selected by netizens to add cheer to the Beijing Olympics left for the capital from their home in Wolong, in southwest Sichuan Province, on Saturday afternoon.

    The pandas boarded a China Southern Airlines Boeing 747 here in the provincial capital for the two-and-a-half hour flight to Beijing.

A newly arrived giant panda enjoys a meal at Beijing Zoo in Beijing, capital of China, May 24, 2008. Eight giant pandas from the quake-hit Sichuan Porvince are airlifed to Beijing Saturday to add cheer to the upcoming Beijing Olympics. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    The 2-year-old pandas will make their new home at the Beijing Zoo.

    Wang Pengyan, deputy head of the Wolong-based China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center, said that the panda base was damaged by the catastrophic May 12 earthquake but none of the Olympic pandas were injured.

    "The pandas have recovered from any nervousness about the quakeand are all in good condition," he said.

    Wolong is only 30 kilometers from the epicenter of the powerful quake. Five staff at the Wolong base were among the more than 60,000 dead. Two pandas were injured and six went missing, of which four have been found.

    The center had 53 pandas before the earthquake.