--- SEARCH ---
WEATHER
CHINA
INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
CULTURE
GOVERNMENT
SCI-TECH
ENVIRONMENT
SPORTS
LIFE
PEOPLE
TRAVEL
WEEKLY REVIEW
Learning Chinese
Learn to Cook Chinese Dishes
Exchange Rates
Hotel Service
China Calendar


Hot Links
China Development Gateway
Chinese Embassies

Online marketplace of Manufacturers & Wholesalers

Taiwan Pandas Short Listed

A panda expert at a regular news briefing of the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of the State Council said on Thursday morning that the two giant pandas the Chinese mainland wants to send to Taiwan will be chosen on the basis of which of the 11 nominated finalists appear to make the happiest couple.

Zhang Hemin, director of China Giant Pandas Research Center in Wolong in southwest China's Sichuan Province and head of the nine-member selection panel, said six males and five females have been short listed out of 23 for "trial marriages.”

"We will let the final candidates spend time with each other to see which two interact the best," Zhang said. "It's sort of a courting ritual."

"We must wait and see which couple is the soul mate as a female giant panda always has strict standards for her sexual partners," he said, adding that the "trial marriages" will last for at least three weeks.

The mainland offered Taiwan a pair of pandas at the end of the historic visit by Lien Chan, then chairman of the island's Kuomintang (KMT), in early May.

Li Weiyi, TAO spokesperson, called for a more active response from Taiwan regarding the pandas and announced that Lien, now honorary KMT president, will make a second visit to the mainland and is expected to visit Wolong.

(Xinhua News Agency October 14, 2005)

Lien Chan to Revisit Mainland on October 14
Celebration of Taiwan Liberation Announced
Taiwan Researchers Seek Panda Breeding Knowledge
Mainland Begins Selecting Giant Pandas for Taiwan
Print This Page
|
Email This Page
About Us SiteMap Feedback
Copyright © China Internet Information Center. All Rights Reserved
E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-68326688