Giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang from China met the British public for the first time at Edinburgh zoo on Friday.

The zoo's first guest of the day was given the privilege of cutting the ribbon to mark the opening of the enclosure. British visitors seemed excited to finally be able to see pandas up close.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang are the first pandas to stay in the UK for 17 years. Around 600 guests pre-booked to see the pandas' debut to the public -- a 200 percent increase on usual gate numbers for a mid-December Friday.

Giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang from China met the British public for the first time at Edinburgh zoo on Friday. [Photo: Xinhua]