Breeding icons for everyone to enjoy

Overseas visitors to Ya'an, a city known for its picturesque mountains and clean air in Southwest China's Sichuan province, always head for the Bifengxia base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.

"Their only goal is to see pandas, China's most iconic animal," said Wang Yunkang, an official with the city's tourism administration.

Some of the visitors are curious about how researchers try to achieve genetic biodiversity and avoid inbreeding while trying to increase the endangered panda population.