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In 2008, panda-mania hit Taiwan when China gifted the country two giant pandas.

This practice known as 鈥榩anda diplomacy鈥� is thought to date back as far as the 7th Century.

Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan flew into Taiwan and became instant celebrities.

Eve Chen, curator of the Giant Panda House at Taipei Zoo says: 鈥淭hey were extremely cute and adorable. You could call them like the handsome and the beauty, like the Barbie and Ken in a panda.鈥�

Eve tells Gill Kearsley about their arrival and what it meant to Taiwan.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the 鈥業ndian Titanic鈥� and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy鈥檚 Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and G枚rel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they鈥檝e had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America鈥檚 occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan in China. Credit: Visual China Group via Getty Images.)