City owes its global status to iconic creature

Famous as the home of giant pandas, Chengdu ranks among the top destinations for tourists from around the world.

Located in Southwest China's Sichuan province, Chengdu is a metropolis with a population of more than 20 million. It is also the center of breeding wild giant pandas, which demonstrates the city's harmonious relationship between humans and animals.

One of the most famous attractions, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding has earned a place in the global panda breeding field.

Founded in 1987, the base began by saving six pandas from the wild and has developed to now have more than 200 of the bears. The base is a scientific research center for giant panda breeding and an ecological park, imitating the natural habitat of pandas. It also provides tourists with the chance to learn more about giant pandas' daily lives, and outdoor activities, as well as viewing newborn cubs.

In an effort to create a better environment for giant pandas and improve conditions for the bear research, as well as design more tours, the base has expanded. In January, the base opened its extension, with an area of 238 hectares, making it nearly 2.5 times larger than before, according to local officials.

The new area will add more than 130 habitats for 200 giant pandas, the base said.

According to the base, the first batch of 43 bears have inhabited their new homes. They include Zhi Ma, the prototype of Rongbao, the mascot of the 31st Summer World University Games in Chengdu; Qi Qi and Dian Dian, the first pair of panda ambassadors nominated by the United Nations Development Programme; Xiong Bang and Long Bang, sent back from Japan's Wakayama Prefecture; A Bao sent back from Madrid, Spain; and Jia Panpan sent back from Calgary, Canada.

Apart from breeding pandas in the base, the Chengdu area of the Giant Panda National Park is home to wild bears due to its geography at the Qionglai and Minshan mountains.

Official data show that the national park's Chengdu area has a total of 73 wild pandas so far.

To preserve this rare animal, the local authority said it has increased the protection of wild pandas by releasing them back into their natural habitats. At the end of 2018, two female giant pandas Qin Xin and Xiao Hetao were returned to the national park's Chengdu area.

"She lives well and is in good health," Zhu Dahai, an official at the Dujiangyan conservation station of the national park, said after checking Xiao Hetao's scat.

"Qin Xin and Xiao Hetao were both two and a half years old when they came back to nature. They could have babies this year if they've found companions," Zhu said.

In addition to the panda breeding base and natural habitats, pandas are found everywhere in Chengdu as they have become a calling card of the city's spirit and culture.

At the entrance of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, a giant panda sculpture welcomes travelers to the city. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport even grew pandashaped plantations on nearby grounds, which catch passengers' eyes before their planes land.

Moreover, panda elements are adopted throughout the city from its streets, subways and greenways to public parks. For example, on Chunxi Road, one of the major shopping streets in the city center, a sculpture of a giant panda climbing the wall of the Chengdu IFS mega mall is now a landmark. Another scenic spot, Kuanzhai Xiangzi, has opened a panda-themed post office, which sells unique panda stamps.

With the accelerated opening-up of Chengdu in recent years, the panda as the city's ambassador has drawn attention to its long history and culture, local officials said.

Over the years, national intangible cultural heritages in Chengdu such as Shu brocade, silk embroidery and silver silk have become known across the world due to the promotion of pandas. The Hollywood Kung Fu Panda movie series selected Chengdu as the backdrop to film distinct local elements such as the Qingcheng Mountain, mapo tofu, dandan noodles and hotpot.

In June this year, Chengdu will host the 31st Summer Universiade, welcoming people from around the world to enjoy the charms of the city of pandas.

According to the organizer, apart from the mascot Rongbao, panda elements will be used in the torch flame, landscape and the city's public facilities and transport, to promote the beauty of Chengdu to people from different countries and regions.