Eight special "Olympic Pandas", selected by popular vote from a field of 16, (though they now seem to be morphing into the "Earthquake Pandas") arrived in Beijing on Saturday afternoon. The pandas are here for a special 6 month Olympic stint and after arriving on a special "luxury" flight from Chengdu, were set up in their comfortable digs (it's air conditioned and comes with a daily supply of 200kg of bamboo and 40kg of bamboo shoots especially shipped in from Henan).

Although the pandas were exposed to the glare of the media on Sunday, because they're still a little shaken from the earthquake that caused significant damage to the Wolong reserve that they call home, the pandas will enjoy a week of rest before being exposed to the prying eyes and cameras of visitors to Beijing Zoo. For more details on the 2-and-a-half-hour trip from Chengdu to Beijing, take a look at the video below.

Links and Sources
AP: 8 earthquake pandas arrive in Beijing for Olympics
Youku: Pandas getting on the plane video
MSNBC: Video
Xinhua: Beijing to get more pandas for Olympic Games
Sohu: Voting for the cutest Olympic Panda Activity
Sohu: Name the Pandas activity (lots of cute baby panda pics)
Sohu: 2008四川卧龙大熊猫奥运北京行”活动启动
The First: 奥运熊猫将获心理治疗
Qianlong: 八只大熊猫成特殊的“受灾转移群众”(图)