Leased from China for $1 million per year, two new giant pandas could bring a welcome reprieve to acrimonious relations between the U.S. and its adversary.

The Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington D.C. announced Monday that zookeepers are expecting the arrival of two giant pandas from China this week. The pandas, one male and one female,

For the first time in more than two decades, giant pandas are making a long journey from China to Washington, D.C. Two of the iconic, black-and-white creatures—a male named Bao Li and a female called Qing Bao—are officially on their way to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute,