Return of the panda
By CNN Correspondent Phil O'Sullivan
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Hua Mei received a hero's welcome when she returned to China.
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SICHUAN, China (CNN) -- The first ever panda to return to China after being bred in captivity has been getting a lot of attention in her new home.
Hua Mei, whose name means China-America, arrived at the birthplace of her parents after a journey aimed at keeping China's panda population from dying out.
The four-year-old, 200 pound giant panda, is now getting used to her new home about 100 kilometers from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, and is also coming to terms with a new language.
Hua Mei's keepers say they are using the same methods to take care of her as in the United States but while she is used to English, the panda now has to adjust to the sound of Mandarin.
Hua Mei also has to get used to a different climate. She grew up in the sunny San Diego Zoo where temperatures are about ten degrees warmer than China's Sichuan province. Sichuan is where around 1,100 of China's panda's survive, while around 140 live in captivity around the world.
Hua Mei is in a month-long quarantine period and is living alone in a heated hut with a fenced-off yard for her own use.
She's the first endangered panda born in the United States to live for more than a few hours.
Once she reached the age of three, the rules of China's panda loan programme insist that the she be returned to China. Last year's outbreak of SARS delayed her return by a year.
To help reduce the culture shock, she will only gradually be introduced to Chinese food. For now, she's on a diet flown in from the United States that includes her favorite panda cookies and fresh U.S.-grown bamboo shoots.
As the official mascot of China, her new country is doing its best to keep her happy. Her keepers say there are still some things she's not used to yet but they are making sure she get a lot of attention to help her acclimatization process.
Standing by to help out in that regard are three potential suitors.
"Hua Mei is already at a reproductive age," says Wang Pengyan, deputy director of the Wolong Panda Reserve.
"We hope that after she gets acclimatized to her new environment and as long as there are no medical problems, that she will be able to mate with one of the suitable male pandas and produce some babies."
Hua Mei's flight to China brings with it hope she can contribute to the panda breeding program. Pandas are notoriously hard to breed in captivity. They come on heat only once a year for a couple of days and can be highly selective about their mates.
So once Hua Mei is acclimatized, one of her first tasks will be to pick a boyfriend who is to her liking.
