Beijing - Two giant pandas set off on Tuesday from a breeding centre in south-western China's Sichuan province for a flight to Taiwan, where they will make their debut at Taipei Zoo after a month-long quarantine.

The four-year-old pandas were given a breakfast of carrots and steamed corn buns before they were caged and put on a truck bound for Shuangliu Airport in the provincial capital of Chengdu, state media reported.

Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, whose names together mean "reunion," were scheduled to leave Chengdu at 2 pm (0600 GMT) on board a cargo plane from Taiwan's Eva Air, subject to weather conditions.

Keepers accompanying the pandas said both animals were in good condition, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The pandas had lived at the breeding centre in the Ya'an area since the devastating May 12 Sichuan earthquake forced the former Wolong breeding centre to relocate, the agency said.

The keepers will take a week's supply of steamed corn buns and fresh bamboo and other food for the pandas, plus medicines and motion-sickness pills, it added.

The Eva Air plane arrived in Chengdu on Monday carrying some 50 officials, veterinarians, animal caretakers and reporters.

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.

More than 180 giant pandas live in captivity around the world, and about 1,590 remain in the wild, mostly in the mountains of Sichuan, according to Chinese government statistics.

The animals are threatened by loss of habitat, poaching and a low reproduction rate.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Beijing sent dozens of pandas - normally two at a time - to other nations, a policy dubbed "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, which Taiwan critics believe hint at reunification between China and Taiwan, as Taiwan still rejects unification. (dpa)