A pair of giant pandas walk in the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan Province Dec. 23, 2008. The 4-year-old giant pandas, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan offered by the Chinese mainland arrived in Taiwan by air on Dec. 23, 2008. (Chinese media photo)
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TAIPEI, Jan. 8 (Chinese media) -- The mainland-donated panda
pair is scheduled to meet the Taiwan public on Jan. 26, the first day of the
Chinese Lunar New Year, the Taipei city government announced on Thursday.
Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin will visit the panda pair a
few days earlier, on Jan. 24, with 500 orphans and children from poor families.
"If all the quarantine measures for the panda pair
and other procedures for their moving into the zoo go well as scheduled, the 500
children invited by the city government will be the first visitors on Jan. 24,"
Hau said.
The Taipei city zoo said an opening ceremony for the
panda enclosure would also be held on Jan. 24. The area would be open to the
public on the morning of Jan. 26.
It's estimated an average of 22,000 panda visitors
per day will come to the enclosure once it's opened, according to the zoo. To
accommodate the crowds, the zoo will extend business hours until 18:00 p.m.
during the Spring Festival holidays.
The city government said earlier in a statement that
the pandas were expected to attract about 6 million visitors to the zoo
annually, double the current number.
The pair of 4-year-old giant pandas named "Tuan Tuan"
and "Yuan Yuan" (when linked, their names mean "reunion" in Chinese), have now
become "sweethearts" on the island. Cartoon images of the bears are displayed at
bus stations and the airport's entrance.
The mainland announced in May 2005 it would donate
two giant pandas to Taiwan. Their departure had been delayed for more than three
years. Improved cross-Straits ties made their journey to Taiwan possible.
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