The two pandas sent by the Chinese mainland as gifts to Taiwan compatriots made their debut at the Taipei Zoo on Saturday just ahead of the Lunar New Year.

The pandas are called Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan and their names when combined mean "reunion" in Chinese.

On Saturday, they met a select group of visitors including Taiwan leader, Ma Ying-jeou, and Kuomintang Honorary Chairman, Lien Chan during a ceremony to inaugurate their new enclosure.

The Taipei city government also invited about 500 orphans and children from low-income families as some of the two pandas' first visitors.

Lien Chan, Kuo Mintang Honorary Chairman, said, "We expect the pandas to have many children and grandchildren so that in the future there will be a new group of pandas in Taiwan."

The two pandas completed a month-long quarantine period after they arrived from Sichuan Province last month, and they are both in good health.

The Taiwan public will be able to come and visit them starting from Monday, the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Ox.

An estimated average of 22,000 visitors per day are expected to visit the pair.

And the city government estimates the pandas will attract about 6 million visitors to the zoo annually.

(CCTV January 26, 2009)