CHENGDU, Dec. 23 (Chinese media) -- A pair of giant pandas
offered by the Chinese mainland to Taiwan left here on Tuesday for the island.
The plane carrying the pandas, Tuan Tuan and Yuan
Yuan, left at 2:20 p.m. from the Shuangliu Airport here in the provincial
capital of Sichuan and is expected to reach Taipei at about 5 p.m..
A send-off ceremony was held at the airport.
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan "will sow the seeds of peace,
solidarity and friendship on Taiwan's soil, with the good wishes of 1.3 billion
mainland compatriots," said the mainland's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office
Deputy Director, Zheng Lizhong, at the ceremony.
"They would also witness with us the beautiful
prospects of the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, the future of
the common prosperity and the great revival of the Chinese nation," Zheng said.
Tuan Tuan, a male, and Yuan Yuan, a female, are four
years old. They will live at the Taipei city zoo.
To ensure a safe journey, Taiwan's EVA Air dispatched
experienced crew to complete the mission. Panda pictures were seen on their
cages and panda emblems posted on the interior of the cabin, pillow towels and
brooches of crewmembers.
Zoo director Jason Yeh said at the Shuangliu Airport
he felt very excited and happy as the pandas could go to Taiwan.
Yeh also thanked the mainland for its care of the
pandas and pledged the zoo would do its utmost to breed and care for them.
Giant pandas are among the world's most endangered
animals. There are about 1,590 pandas living in China's wild, mostly in Sichuan
and the northwestern provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu. Through 2007, there were
239 captive bred giant pandas in the country.
The mainland announced in May 2005 it would donate
two giant pandas to Taiwan. Their departure has been delayed for more than three
years. Improved cross-Straits ties make their journey to Taiwan possible.
About 20 experts and two of the pair's original
keepers were on the flight to Taiwan. They brought a week's worth of food,
including more than 400 kg of bamboo, pandas' staple food.
Yin Hong, deputy director of the State Forestry
Administration, said she believed the Taipei zoo was capable of caring for the
couple.
"We will provide technical support without any
reservation," she said at the airport send-off ceremony.
The pair was transported to Chengdu from the Bifeng
Gorge Base in Ya'an, Sichuan early Tuesday. They had been transferred there in
June after the May 12 strong quake which damaged their former home in Wolong.
Before the departure from Ya'an, the pandas had their
breakfast- carrots and steamed corn buns. Hundreds of locals came to bid
farewell to the lovable animals.
Qu Chunmao, the pair's keeper in Ya'an, spoke through
tears, "I wish them a happy life in Taiwan."
Qu said she loved the pair very much although she
only had six months with them.
"I am reluctant to let them leave here," said Wang
Xiaofang, owner of a shop only several hundred meters away from the Bifeng Gorge
Base.
But "their departure for Taiwan represents the
mainland people's wishes to promote cross-Strait relations," said 27-year-old
Wang. "I hope they will bring goodwill to Taiwan."
A Taiwan keeper, who accompanied the pair to the
island, said the pandas were in good condition.
"They had a good breakfast to sustain them on the
long journey," she said.
Seventeen Nyssaceae seedlings, a gift from the Qiang
ethnic group in quake-hit Wenchuan County of Sichuan to show thanks for the
Taiwan people's donations and help, were also on board the plane. Nyssaceae
trees are known as a rare flowering plant known only living in the Chinese
mainland,
Li Chongxi, deputy chief of Sichuan's Communist Party
committee, said the seedlings represented the confidence of Sichuan people in
post-quake reconstruction and were proof of the mutual support of people across
the Taiwan Straits.
In Taiwan, the long-awaited pandas have become
increasingly popular among residents, shops and the media.
Shops sell toy pandas, gold panda coins and DVDs. A
famous sculptor on the island carved a pair of pandas as a welcome.
Many people also contacted the Taipei zoo to ask that
it take good care of the animals.
The pandas are expected to meet the public in Taiwan
during the Spring Festival, the Chinese lunar new year, after a one-month
quarantine. The exact date depends on how they adapt to the new
environment.
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