Ocean Park's panda twin cubs made their highly-anticipated public debut on Sunday in front of hundreds of delighted locals and tourists.

Many visitors arrived extra early to make sure they could meet the baby pandas as soon as possible.

A local panda enthusiast, surnamed Chan, told RTHK that he arrived at Ocean Park two hours before it opened - and he's also taking part in a contest to pick a name for the pair.

“I arrived here at 8am. I want to see them as soon as I can. I will join the [naming] contest, but I am still thinking [about what names to propose]. The theme will probably be related to Hong Kong,” he said.

Tourists were equally thrilled to meet the locally-born cubs.

One Indonesian student who’s currently studying in Shenzhen said he doesn’t get to see pandas in his home country.

“We don’t really have access to pandas [in Indonesia]. So looking at pandas, especially the cubs, is quite special to us,” he said.

Ocean Park says visitors are allowed to stay for up to five minutes inside the venue to give more people a chance to view the panda babies.

While some said they wish they could spend more time with the cubs, Christa from San Francisco said the arrangement is reasonable.

“They [panda cubs] are just doing their own thing, just hanging out. They don’t need to do anything special, they’re just special the way they are,” she said.

“I think if you can take what you can get so others could enjoy them too I think it’s better to have more people enjoy them and want to conserve and protect them. So I think it’s better to have more people see them.”

Public viewings of the panda cubs are from 10am to 3pm daily, and the facility is expected to welcome up to 5,000 visitors each day.

People can also choose to pay HK$1,500 each for a special, 30-minute visit before the park opens each day.

A woman sunamed Ho said she may sign up for the session so that she can spend more time with the twins.

"I saw the pandas climbing up and down. I like both of them. I think seeing the cubs grow up is like seeing my grandchildren. I am interested in the HK$1,500 session, at least I'll have half an hour to see the cubs. I think it's worth it because I feel happy after seeing them," she said.

However, another woman surnamed Leung said the VIP slot is just too costly.

"I will not consider [registering] at all. It is not necessary. I still have to see the pandas with another 50 people even after paying HK$1,500," she said.