The pair of pandas selected for Hong Kong play at the China Panda Protection and Research Center in Wolong, Sichuan Province.Both pandas were born there in August 2005. The male young panda presently identified as No. 606 weighs 60 kilograms and the female, No. 610, 61 kilograms.(Xinhua Photo)Photo Gallery>>>

    WOLONG, Sichuan, April 26 (Xinhua) -- A pair of young pandas are getting the kid-gloved treatment as they travel Thursday from Sichuan Province to their new home in Hong Kong where their new names will be revealed when they arrive.

    They're traveling in specially designed cages and flying on a specially equipped aircraft with an entourage of five handlers.

    The panda couple are gifts to Hong Kong which is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its return to the motherland.

    A truck carrying the couple departed in rainy weather from the China Panda Protection and Research Center in Wolong at around 8:00 a.m. Thursday for the 100 km drive to the airport in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

    The truck arrived at the Chengdu airport at 11:40 a.m.

    The pandas are traveling in cages that were made in Hong Kong to keep them comfortable and relaxed during their 10-hour journey. Trainers started 10 days ago to get the pandas used to the cages.

    "The cubs are in a good shape," said Li Wei, a publicity official of the Wolong Center, "I believe the 10-hour journey won't be a big problem for them."

    The panda's chartered plane, which took off from the Chengdu airport at 2 p.m., is expected to arrive at the Hong Kong International Airport at around 4:30 p.m., where a ceremony will be held and the new names of the pandas will be announced.

    The final leg of the pandas' journey will take them to their new home at Hong Kong Ocean Park where they will be quarantined for about 30 days.

    The pandas are expected to meet the Hong Kong public on July 1,the anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.

    Both pandas were born in 2005 at the Wolong Center, the male panda which is simply known as No. 606 weighs 69.6 kg, and the female panda known as No. 610 is 61.3 kg, according to Li. They are described as "well-mannered, lovely and easy going".

    He Changgui, keeper of the two pandas, said the cubs are responsive to orders given in Putonghua or standard Chinese, along with the separate dialects of Guangdong and Sichuan provinces and English.

    "I often keep switching from English to Putonghua to Cantonese to greet or give orders to the couple, but they seem to like orders in Sichuan dialect," admitted a Hong Kong Oceanic Park keeper, whose name is known as Yin Junren in pinyin.

    Zhang Hemin, director of the Administration for Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan, said it would take one to two months for the panda pair to adapt to their new environment in Hong Kong.

    A trainer from Hong Kong Ocean Park has been working with the pandas in Wolong for several months, Zhang told Xinhua.

    Tang Chunxiang, a senior vet with the China Panda Protection and Research Center in Wolong, says the pandas may not be used to Hong Kong's hot weather.

    "They prefer cold to hot weather as their natural habitat is high in the mountains of southwest China," said Tang, adding that the pandas' Hong Kong home is air-conditioned.

    "There is no question that the new panda pair will be able to live and prosper in Hong Kong," said Zhang.

    By December 2006, China has bred 217 pandas at its research centers and zoos in Beijing, Sichuan and Shaanxi. There are now about 1,590 living in the wild in China, mostly in mountains of Sichuan and the western province of Shaanxi.

    On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong was returned to China ending more than 300 years of British rule over the territory. For the last 10years it has been known as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

    The central government presented the first pair of pandas, "An An" and "Jia Jia," as gifts to Hong Kong in 1999. They also live at the Hong Kong Ocean Park.

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