Photo taken on December 11, 2008 shows Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, the pair of giant pandas offered by the Chinese mainland to Taiwan, are happily fed.

The pair of giant pandas offered by the Chinese mainland to Taiwan will travel to the island on Dec. 23, a mainland official announced on Wednesday.

State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Li Weiyi made the announcement at a press briefing.

The bears, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, whose names together mean "reunion," will be housed at the Taipei city zoo.

The mainland announced in May 2005 it would donate two giant pandas to Taiwan. But their departure has been delayed for more than three years. The warming cross-Straits ties make their journey to Taiwan possible.

The 4-year-old pandas, members of one of China's most endangered species, have been living at a breeding base in Ya'an, Sichuan for the past several months. Their previous home, the Wolong Nature Reserve, was seriously damaged in the strong earthquake that struck southwest China on May 12.

Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan

(Xinhua News Agency December 17, 2008)