Hainan's first panda settlers make debut

Two male giant pandas met with the public for the first time in Haikou, capital of China's southernmost province of Hainan Sunday.

The two panda brothers, named "Gong Gong" and "Shun Shun", both 5 years old, are the first pandas to settle on the tropical island.

They arrived at their home of over 1,000 square meters in the Hainan Tropical Wildlife Park and Botanical Garden after alighting the flight from their hometown Sichuan Province on Nov. 10.

Their arrival ends the province's history of no permanent panda dwellers. The tropical island only had a guest panda, Ding Ding, who visited and stayed for a month in 2004.

Panda fans lined up on Sunday to get a close look at the duo. "This is my first time to see pandas. I have been waiting eagerly to see them since I knew they were settling in Hainan," said a visitor surnamed Zhong from northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

According to the park, the main challenge for Hainan to house pandas is its longer summer compared with Sichuan. Therefore, six powerful ventilators and 12 air conditioners have been installed to keep the panda pavilion cool. Two dehumidifiers are employed to tackle the island's high humidity.

The two pandas will live in Hainan for two years to start, and will continue to live here if things go as planned.