Film festival on animals and nature

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The Fifth China Ya'an International Panda, Animal and Nature Film week was launched in Ya'an city, Sichuan province, on Aug 16.

Some 45 foreign and 20 domestic films are screened and will receive awards throughout the week. Sponsored by the Ya'an municipal government and China Film Archive, the event also includes seminars, a photography exhibition and other promotional events.

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

Ya'an is best known as the birthplace of tea, its large areas of dove trees and more importantly, as Sichuan's giant panda habitat.

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

Currently there are some 300 pandas in Ya'an.