WHILE Edinburgh may have been feeling the bite of the first winter snowfalls, there was no mistaking the warmth of the welcome giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang – which translates into Sweetie and Sunshine – received as they touched down in the capital yesterday and sped in convoy to their new home at Edinburgh Zoo.

A crowd of 200 or so well-wishers made up of schoolchildren, parents, a 12-strong contingent from the Denny and Dunipace Gleneagles Pipe Band and even a couple wrapped up in panda suits lined the road at the zoo entrance. There they jostled with camera crews, police and the odd stray tourist, and sporadically broke into song, of which the only discernible word was "pandemonium". Or, more likely, "panda-monium".

The capital had seen nothing like it since the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI last year, though he at least was able to wave to the crowds. When the pandas did finally arrive at 2.29pm, preceded by a police car and motorcycle outrider, they were in two closed white vans.

Like Fleetwood Mac in their pomp, they travel in separate vehicles. And they really did arrive from the east too, taking a detour en route from the airport in order to pass the Chinese Consulate.

Nine-year-old Beth Pennycook and her mother, Lisa, 40, have booked two 20-minute slots with the pandas when they go on view to the public on December 16. But "panda daft" competition winner Beth had been given a sneak preview of the new £285,000 enclosure earlier in the day. "It was quite cool, with all the tunnels and things," she said. "I think Tian Tian is my favourite."

Ron Nisbet, 72, said he wanted simply to welcome the pandas to the capital. "They will certainly boost tourism and foster relations between Scotland and China. That is even more important now in terms of trade as we move towards Scottish independence."

The entrance was decorated with bunting – a colourful confection of Scottish, Union and Chinese flags – and there were two huge inflatable pandas on either side of the front door. One was clutching the obligatory bamboo shoot that makes up 99% of the animals' diet.

The real thing will be grown in the zoo, as well as in the Earl of Glasgow's Kelburn Castle estate in Largs, Ayrshire, and at other sites across Scotland. But the bulk of it will arrive from a specialist bamboo grower in Holland at a cost of around £70,000 a year. Bamboo also formed the in-flight meal for the pandas on their 10-hour journey from China, enlivened by a carrot or two and protein cake.

Iain Valentine, director of conservation and research, who will be responsible for the pandas during their 10-year stay, accompanied his new charges on their trip. Having visited the eight-year-old pandas in China several times previously, he's already well-attuned to their very different personalities.

"Yang Guang is a very relaxed, calm animal who likes to interact with people," he said. "Tian Tian is a bit more shy and the kind of animal who likes to spend a bit of time getting to know what's going on in a situation. So they're very different animals. But that's always one of the interesting things in my profession – people think animals of one species will always be the same, but individual animals are quite different."

They are the first pandas to reside in the UK since Ming Ming returned to China from London Zoo in October 1994 and mark the culmination of five years of negotiations between the Chinese and British governments.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland will pay around £600,000 a year to China for the loan of the animals, of which 90% will be ploughed back into conservation, and the society's great hope is the notoriously picky pandas will mate. Attempts to mate a panda from Berlin Zoo with Ming Ming resulted in fights, but the Edinburgh keepers think they will have more luck.

Chinese Charge d'Affaires Qin Gang, said Tian Tian and Yang Guang have "an impressive pedigree." He added: "Yang Guang's father has the world record of fathering 107 panda cubs, and Tian Tian's mother, has also given birth to many baby pandas".

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon admitted she felt "jammy" for landing the task of welcoming the pandas to Scotland and said she was keeping her fingers crossed "for the arrival of a little McPanda"

She added: "It's a real accolade for Edinburgh Zoo and gives Edinburgh and Scotland an opportunity to play its part in the conservation of this great species - Perhaps most importantly, the pandas symbolise the strengthening relationship between China and Scotland."

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore added: "The pandas will be a big draw."