Golden Panda: For Sichuan, Pandas are a major tourist attraction, and a source of revenues for the province. (Photo by Maria Trombly)

November 15, 2007 -- Earlier this month, American-born panda Mei Sheng flew back to Chengdu. There was a throng of journalists there to greet him when he arrived, and it's no surprise – the pandas are a major attraction for Chengdu's Sichuan province.

"The whole world loves pandas," said Li Desheng, vice director of the Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve.

Wolong has 128 pandas, with another 67 pandas at the Chengdu Panda Research Center.

There are a total of 1,600 wild pandas living in nature reserves in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, making the panda one of the most endangered species in the world.

To help restore the panda population, the Chinese government launched a captive breeding program. At the Chengdu Panda Research Center, which was established in 1987, survival rates for panda babies were at first just 30 to 40 percent.

"We've raised infant survival to 100 percent now," said Wang Chengdong, the center's vice director.

In addition to reproduction, the center also has a mission to educate the public – and to promote tourism.

In 2006, some 400,000 visitors came to see the pandas. This year, that number is estimated to rise to 500,000, he said, with about 60 percent of them being foreigners.

To move the process along even more, the Chengdu city announcement announced a 500 million yuan ($US67 million) plan this summer to build a 100-hectare ecological park based on the existing Chengdu Panda Research Center. Due to be completed next year, it will include a small town featuring giant panda attractions just north of the park, according to the Chengdu Cultural Tourism Group.

Officials also planning a 30-square-kilometer international giant panda eco-tourism resort and a giant panda eco-museum to showcase China's achievements in giant panda protection and breeding.

According to Yang Shizuo, executive deputy director of the Sichuan Provincial Office for West China Development, tourism now accounts for 11 percent of the province's GDP.

"Sichuan has five World Cultural and Heritage sites," he said.

The Sichuan tourism industry has been helped by recent break-throughs in infrastructure construction. The province currently has over 1,700 kilometers of highways, with another 1,300 under construction. There are 11 airports, including one international airport in Chengdu.

"We've improved roads, railways, communications," he said. "And we've regulated the travel agents."

In addition to the pandas, the province has other natural draws as well, including the scenery.

Some 30 percent of the province is forested, up 10 percent from a decade ago, Yang said.

Chengdu residents – who suffer under cloudy skies for most of the year – are proud of the mountains that surround their city, a short drive away.

With a welcoming eye towards tourists, plenty of hotel rooms, and the international airport, Chengdu is a great jumping-off point for vacationers.

"Chengdu is one of China's top tourism destinations," said Zen Chen, general manager of the local European Union Chamber of Commerce.

According to a report issued by the Chengdu Munical Government this month (Nov. 8), the tourism industry is one of the fastest-growing sources of jobs for both urban and rural residents.

As of September of this year, 14,000 new torism jobs were created in Chengdu, with additional indirect employment for another 70,000 people.

"Tourism employment is on the rise because the industry is labor-intensive, the threshold for employment is relatively low and the ways of employment are quite flexible," the government reported.

During that period, the number of international tourists increased 41 percent over last year, with 489,300 overnight stays. Total revenues exceeded US$190 million, an increase over 46 percent. The top five regions of origin are Japan, Taiwan, Europe, Hong Kong, and the US, the government reported.