A pair of giant pandas sent as a gift from the mainland to Taiwan arrived on the island yesterday in the latest sign of rapidly improving relations across the Straits.
The four-year old pandas - Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan - touched down at Taipei Taoyuan airport after a three-hour flight from Chengdu in Sichuan, with island residents watching spellbound as the journey unfolded live on local television.
The couple, with their combined name meaning "reunion" in Chinese, were carried aboard a special Boeing 747 plane of Taiwan's EVA Airways with three pilots and 10 stewards in line with "treatment for a head of state".
They left a breeding base in Ya'an of Sichuan at around 8:20 am yesterday and were taken on a truck to the provincial capital of Chengdu, about 120 km from Ya'an, and from there, left for the island by air.
Seventeen Chinese dove trees from the Beichuan Qiang autonomous county in Sichuan also arrived with the pandas. They were presented to express gratitude from earthquake victims to Taiwan people for their help after the May 12 devastation.
The pandas arrived a week after expanded transportation and postal links across the Taiwan Straits started.
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan "will sow the seeds of peace, solidarity and friendship on Taiwan's soil, with the good wishes of 1.3 billion mainland compatriots," said Zheng Lizhong, vice-minister of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office at a send-off ceremony at Chengdu airport.
Questions:
1. How old are the two pandas who were sent to Taiwan?
2. What does the combined name of the two pandas represent?
3. What type of trees were also presented along with the pandas?
Answers:
1. Four years old.
2. Reunion.
3. Seventeen Chinese dove trees.
（英语点津 Helen 编辑）
Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op’Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily’s Website opinion section.
He received his B.A. and Post Grad Dip from Curtin University in 1997 and his Masters in Community Development and Management from Charles Darwin University in 2003. He has taught in Japan, England, Australia and most recently China. His articles have featured in the Bangkok Post, The Taipei Times, The Asia News Network and in-flight magazines.
Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op’Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily’s Website opinion section.
