Panda-theme film week to debut in Ya'an

The Fifth China Ya'an International Panda, Animal and Nature Film Festival will open in the Ya'an, Sichuan province, on Aug 16.

Forty-five foreign and 20 domestic films will be screened and receive awards over the week. Sponsored by the Ya'an government and China Film Archive, the event will also include seminars, a photography exhibition and promotional events, said Xu Mengjia, Party chief of Ya'an.

Since its debut in 2007, the event has attracted hundreds of film entries under the theme of environmental protection, he said.

Ya'an is best known as the birthplace of tea, its large areas of dove trees and, more important, as Sichuan's giant- panda habitat, which are ideal for photographers and filmmakers.

In 1869, Armand David, a French missionary, became the first European to discover the giant panda in Dengchigou, Ya'an, and he introduced the animal to the West.

Currently there are some 300 pandas in Ya'an.