New panda park offers cash prize for logo design

Artists and organizations have been invited to submit logo designs for the new Giant Panda National Park, with the winning design set to win 100,000 yuan ($15,370).

The appeal was made online on Tuesday by the authorities in charge of planning the park, which will straddle Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.

More than 80 percent of the world's wild pandas live in Sichuan, with the rest in Shaanxi and Gansu, according to the Sichuan Forestry Department.

Planning for the Giant Panda National Park began on Jan 31, when the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and State Council issued a circular on the project.

Covering 27,134 square kilometers - three times the size of Yellowstone National Park in the United States - the new park is expected to help wild pandas isolated on six mountains across the three provinces to mingle and strengthen their gene pool, researchers said.

Logo designs can emailed to dxmgjgybszj@126.com. The deadline for submissions is May 31, said Ma Rui with the project's Sichuan leading group. Emails should include "Logo Collection" in the subject line.

Designs should clearly show both the Chinese and English names of the park, and they must fit on an A4 piece of paper. Submissions must be in JPG or TIF format with a resolution no lower than 300 dpi.

All works must be original, and a description should be attached to explain the concept behind the design, the authorities said.