The pair of pandas sent by the Chinese mainland to Taiwan made their official debut at the Taipei Zoo Monday morning, the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

More than 1,000 visitors lined up before the zoo opened at 8:30 a.m., waiting to see the 4-year-old bears. Each panda weighs about 107 kg.

A man who gave his surname as Chang was first in line. He said he traveled four hours with friends by train from the eastern county of Hualien and arrived at about 6 a.m.

"We all like the pandas and regard them as precious gifts from the mainland," said Chang.

Visitors posed at the entrance of the panda house for pictures. Many were in family groups, and some children wore panda caps.

Tien Ai-ping, 12, came with his mother and sister from the northern port city of Keelung. He said: "Today is my birthday and I am so happy to see Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan."

More than 5,000 people visited the pandas within the first 90 minutes.

The pandas, "Tuan Tuan" and "Yuan Yuan" (together meaning "reunion"), completed a month-long quarantine that began when they arrived on December 23.

The pair came from a nature reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province as gifts from the mainland and became "sweethearts" of the island.

The pair were transported from a nature reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province to Taipei and became "sweethearts" of the island.

The zoo will limit panda visitors to 22,000 each day.

"It's an honor for Taiwan to breed the two pandas, as there are only about 1,600 pandas in the world," said Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou last week when he visited the zoo.

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2009)