Finally!
Three years ago, China presented a gift of a pair of giant pandas to Taiwan but it was turned down. Apparently, one of the reasons was because of the names chosen for the pair, Tuan Tuan (male) and Yuan Yuan (female), which were derived from “tuan yuan”, the Chinese term for reunification.
Now, three years later, the pair has finally been flown to Taiwan to their new home in the Taipei City Zoo. The change of heart from Taiwan came after the May 12 earthquake, a rare positive outcome of the devastation.
Tuan Tuan, the male of the pair, is a very special panda. He is the first-born of Hua Mei, the American-born giant panda who was returned to China in 2004. He was originally named Hua Ling, a combination of the first characters of his parents’ names (mother – Hua Mei and father – Ling Ling). His younger twin brother is named Mei Ling, taken from the second characters of the two names.
I saw Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan when I was in Bifengxia this past August. However, the first time I saw them, I didn’t know who they were but found it unusual that there were two pandas living together. It was only when the keeper said the two pandas had been together since they were very young that I put two and two together and realised they were the two pandas destined for Taiwan.
Although I saw them many times during my time there, I only took one picture, and that was through the glass window into their room, and my first glimpse of them before I knew who they were.
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Tuan Tuan’s Parents
 Mother – Hua Mei |
 Father – Ling Ling |
