WASHINGTON, Jan. 10. The arrival of a pair of giant pandas at the National Zoo had been so heralded1 that there was little more that the zoo's director, Lucy Spelman, could add today except, "Wow!"
In fact, she said wow, or one of its variants, at least nine times.
"Every day they have wowed everyone who has handled them," Ms. Spelman said before Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, China's latest venture2 in panda diplomacy, made their official Washington debut in front of scores of3 cameras, diplomats and children.
"This is a kind of a wow exhibition," Ms. Spelman said.
As advertised, the pandas were a hit4. Tian Tian, the 210-pound5 male panda, bounded out of his den6 and headed7 for a breakfast of carrots, biscuits and bamboo as the cameras clicked and whirled8, two classrooms of children laughed and Chinese diplomats smiled. He was followed by Mei Xiang (may-SHONG), the 141- pound female panda.
They did not make their entrance unrehearsed9. Since the pandas arrived in Washington a month ago, zookeepers10 have taught11 them where the food would be each morning as they began to fulfill12 their destiny as one of the city's most photographed couples.
Linda St. Thomas, of a spokeswoman13 for the Smithsonian Institution, the zoo's parent agency, said 31 television crews covered14 today's event.
Ms. Spelman explained to the children that male pandas like Tian Tian (which means more and more) have kidney-shaped15 shadows around their eyes, while female pandas like Mei Xiang (beautiful fragrance) have round ones.
Liu Xiaoming, the deputy chief of mission at the Chinese Embassy, described Tian Tian and Mei Xiang as V.I.P.'s, which he defined as very important pandas.
The presence of pandas invariably prompts16 flights17 of language like that from otherwise normal people. Another example was offered by Lawrence Small, the head of the Smithsonian, who said America had not seen as agile a couple since Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Mr. Liu recalled the panda diplomacy of the Nixon years and said he hoped the new pandas would promote18 "friendship between the peoples of these two great nations."
Chen Jianwei, a Chinese conservation official, said, "We hope they will have a baby very soon." The Nixon pandas, Ling Ling and Hsing-Hsing, were great tourist attractions, but they died without having babies that survived19 long.
Mr. Small, the head of the Smithsonian, said it had high hopes this time because the 3 1/2- year-old Tian Tian and the 2 1/2- year-old Mei Xiang seemed20 more compatible than the earlier pair.
Another conservation official, Chen Rusheng, showed that China was learning about capitalism by thanking FedEx for transporting the pandas Tian Tian and Mei Xiang from China to Washington.
Mr. Small thanked Fuji Photo Film for its donation of $7.8 million for the panda project, some of it going toward the $10 million fee that will be paid to China over the decade that the pandas are on loan21 to the National Zoo and some of it for their habitat at the zoo and for education programs.
When asked whether the zoo would be willing to give back the pandas after the 10 years, Ms. Spelman said, "We certainly would like to have them here forever22."