WEIHAI, Shandong - A pair of spotted deer and two goats sent by Taiwan as gifts to the Chinese mainland arrived on a chartered plane at the Weihai Airport in eastern Shandong province Saturday.

Children welcome the pair of spotted deers and two goats sent by Taiwan as gifts at the Weihai Airport in eastern Shandong province, April 16, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Boeing 737 jet landed at the airport at 12:35 pm, about two and  half hours after taking off from Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan at 10:08 am.

Also aboard the plane are more than 480 kg of feed for the animals, including paper mulberry leaves, mulberry leaves, forage grass, low protein feed particles, vitamin and block salt.

The animals will soon be sent to their new home at Liugongdao National Forest Park, where a grand ceremony will be held to greet them at around 3:30 pm.

Located at the Weihai bay to the eastern edge of Shandong Peninsula, Liugongdao covers an area of 3.15 square km and is some 3.89 km away from Weihai city proper.

A state-level forest park launched in 1992, the park is famed for natural scenery and has an 87 percent of forest coverage, which makes it an ideal place for animals to live.

The pair of critically endangered Sika deer are named Fan Xing and Dian Dian (when linked, the names mean "dotted stars" in Chinese), while the two serows are named Xiyangyang and Leyangyang (both names mean "happy" in Chinese).

The Chinese mainland sent a pair of pandas, "Tuan Tuan" and "Yuan Yuan" (together meaning "reunion"), as a gift to Taiwan in December 2008.

Staff members transport the arrived spotted deer and goats sent by Taiwan as gifts at the Weihai Airport in eastern Shandong province, April 16, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]