Taipei - Taiwan sent a chartered plane to China Monday to bring back two giant pandas presented to Taiwan.

An Eva Air plane, carrying some 50 officials, veterinarians, animal caretakers and reporters, flew to Chengdu in south-western China to pick up the animals at the Ya'an Panda Reserve.

Two Chinese caretakers will escort the pandas, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, whose names mean "unification" in Chinese, to ensure the animals will get used to the conditions at Taipei Zoo.

Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan are scheduled to arrive in Taipei Tuesday, and will make their debut at the Panda House at Taipei Zoo after a month-long quarantine.

The upcoming arrival of the pandas triggered "Pandamania" across Taiwan with the media covering every detail of the lives of the pandas and companies launching panda-related toys.

Several Taipei hotels are offering "panda packages" which include a one-night stay in a room decorated with bamboo and two giant panda dolls, and tickets to the Taipei Zoo to see the pandas.

Giant pandas are among the rarest animals on earth, with only about 1,600 specimens left. Most of them live in the wild in south-west China.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Beijing has given dozens of pandas - two at a time - to selected countries to promote ties, giving rise to the term "panda diplomacy."

Chinese President Hu Jintao offered two pandas to Taiwan in 2005 as a symbol of friendship, but the offer was turned down by the government of former president Chen Shui-bian.

President Ma Ying-jeou accepted the latest offer, choosing to ignore the pandas' highly political names, as Taiwan still rejects unification with China. (dpa)