Thai people are welcome to visit Chengdu, the habitat of the giant panda, said Zhou Mengqi, secretary general of the Chengdu Municipal Association for External Cultural Exchanges with Foreign Countries.

He made the remarks yesterday in a recent reception held by his association in Bangkok, Thailand, to promote Chengdu, capital of Southwest China¡¯s Sichuan Province, and its giant panda.

A major city in Southwest China, Chengdu administers an area of 12,400 square kilometres and is home to nearly 11 million people.

More than 3,000 years ago, the city created the brilliant Jinsha Culture reflected in the Jinsha Ruins in its western suburbs. The sun bird pattern excavated from the Jinsha Ruins has become the logo of China Cultural Heritage, Zhou said.

More than 2,000 years ago, Chengdu was known as the land of abundance thanks to the construction of the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project, the world¡¯s oldest irrigation project still in operation.

More than 1,000 years ago, the hibiscus was planted in different parts of the city which was advanced in the brocade weaving industry. The city was known as the hibiscus and brocade city, he said.

As one of China¡¯s first historically and culturally famous cities named by the central government, Chengdu has many sites of historical importance.

It boasts the Temple of Marquis Wu in memory of Zhuge Liang, the famous Chinese premier during the Three Kingdoms period (AD220-280), the Du Fu Thatched Cottage in memory of Du Fu, one of China¡¯s best-known poets living in the Tang Dynasty (AD618-907), the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project and Mount Qingcheng, the birthplace of Chinese Taoism.

Mount Qingcheng-Dujiangyan was included on the World Cultural Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in the year 2000.

Zhou said that Chengdu, which was designated by the central government as Southwest China¡¯s centre of science, technology, commerce, trade, finance, communications and telecommunications, had established ties of friendly cities with 14 cities in 11 countries, and had established economic and trade relations with 81 countries and regions.

Every year, Chengdu receives over 37 million visitors from home and abroad, he said.

More than 100 years ago, the giant panda was found in Chengdu for the first time.

The city has the world¡¯s only research base for giant panda breeding located in a major metropolis. The base has 58 giant pandas, while the number of the world¡¯s existing giant pandas is only some 1,500.

Around 50 kilometres from Chengdu is the China Research Centre for the Conservation of the Giant Panda in the Wolong Nature Reserve. It is the world¡¯s largest organization dedicated to the protection of the giant panda.

Every year, people from different parts of the world go to Chengdu and Sichuan to see the giant panda.

As the envoy of friendship between Sichuan and Chiang Mai in Thailand, Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui, the two giant pandas from the Wolong Nature Reserve, live in the Chiang Mai Zoo.

Chengdu and Bangkok, which both have a long history and brilliant culture, have maintained friendly relations.

The exchanges between both sides have been more close thanks to the opening of the Thai Consulate General in Chengdu in recent years, Zhou said.

The Chengdu Municipal Association for External Cultural Exchanges with Foreign Countries has co-operated with the Thai Consulate General in Chengdu to hold many activities of cultural exchanges, according to Zhou.

When the Chengdu Municipal Association for External Cultural Exchanges with Foreign Countries launched the trip in July this year to visit pandas from Sichuan which live in zoos in different parts of the world, the Thai Consul General in Chengdu visited the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding to participate in the launching ceremony and visited the base, Zhou said.

An increasing number of Chengdu people visit Bangkok on holidays. On behalf of the Chengdu people, the Chengdu Municipal Association for External Cultural Exchanges with Foreign Countries invite Thai people to visit Chengdu, the habitat of the giant panda, he said.