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Updated Wednesday, December 24, 2008 9:44 am TWN, By Amber Wang, AFP



	Taiwanese breeder You Xueyin feeds giant pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan at a panda breeding base in Ya’an City in southeast China’s Sichuan Province on Monday, Dec. 22. The pair of pandas left China Tuesday, Dec. 23 on a long-awaited goodwill journey to their new home in Taiwan in the latest move symbolizing the warming ties between the rivals. (AP/Xinhua) Enlarge Photo

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Amid tears, two pandas leave home

CHENGDU, China -- Two giant pandas left China Tuesday on a historic mission to Taiwan, seemingly unperturbed by the outpouring of emotion triggered by their departure.

Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, both four years old, took off from Shuangliu Airport near Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan province on board a jet from Taiwan’s EVA Air, in the manner of minor celebrities.

As members of the Qiang ethnic group performed dances, ground crew loaded 450 kilograms (nearly half a ton) of fresh bamboo onto the plane, enough to keep the two furry goodwill ambassadors going for a week.

The ceremony at the airport in Chengdu was the culmination of an emotional day that began in the pitch-black and freezing hours before dawn, when the two were fed a breakfast of carrots and steamed corn buns at the Ya’an breeding base in southwestern province of Sichuan.

“I’m so sad,” said Qu Chunmao, one of the pair’s keepers. “I’ve been with them for six months. They’re so cute. I like them both.”

As the couple had been loaded onto a truck, children dressed up as pandas performed a dance in a small ceremony bidding farewell to the two local heroes.

“I hope one day I can go to Taiwan to see the pandas there,” said five-year-old He Jiawei, beaming under her panda outfit.

The truck left Ya’an under police escort, with hundreds of people lined up along the streets, waving flowers and shouting their goodbyes to the two furry diplomats.

“I’m sad to see the pandas go, but I’m happy that Taiwanese children can experience the cute animals,” said Guo Jie, an 18-year-old student at a technical college.

Accompanying the pandas on their trip were a large contingent of journalists as well as some 20 Chinese animal experts and their two original keepers, who will stay in Taiwan for two months.

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