Okay, we know we''ve talked about pandas already today, but it's only because we can't get enough of them, and we think that's true for most people in China. But apparently, if you're a panda, you could use some time off, especially if people are constantly expecting you to mate. Researchers at the Wolong Panda Reserve in Sichuan are going to try and separate Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan for a month to see if absence really does make the heart grow fonder. At the very least, they'll live up to their names when they're reunited, as tuanyuan (团圆） means “to reunite.” Maybe that's where they got the idea to separate them from? more ›

Yuanyuan and Tuantuan, two giant pandas who made the headlines two years ago when Taiwan's government refused to accept them as a gift from mainland China, will now at long last be moving to Taiwan. Since the pandas' names together form the word "tuanyuan" (团圆) or "reunion", the gift was seen as having rather political undertones. With the newly elected KMT ruling the island, the welcoming of these two cuddly bears might be viewed as a symbol for a closer relationship with the mainland. more ›