Being a huge fan of the NBA's Yao Ming, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann has coined himself "Yao Mufi" and is looking forward to inviting the basketball player to Hawaii for a vacation.

Hannemann, who stands about 1.9 metres and used to be a basketball coach himself, has just completed a week-long goodwill trip to China,

The purpose of his visit was partly to make arrangements for Yao's possible tour of the island.

"We are also thinking about bringing a panda back to Honolulu," the mayor said on Saturday at a Beijing hotel, after a meeting with officials from the forestry authority on the likelihood of this happening. He flew back home on Saturday.

Recognizing that pandas are one of the most rare animals in the world, Hannemann said they had come to symbolize endangered species and conservation.

The University of Hawaii is renowned for its genetic research and Hannemann said they would try their best to help prolong the life of the panda.

He said if all goes well, the panda would be the first of its species to live by the seaside, as the zoo in Honolulu is only one street away from the coast.

As China has strict requirements for sending pandas abroad, the mayor said the whole plan is still more like an idea and his meeting with the relevant officials was the first contact he has had with the Chinese on the issue.

This was Hannemann's first trip to China after taking office in January 2005, which he described as a good time to visit.

He first visited the southern Chinese city Zhongshan, the ancestral home of most Chinese living in Hawaii.

He said as next year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the sister city relationship, a series of activities will be held in the two cities to commemorate the special bond. The mayor also visited Shanghai, where he closely studied the development of a light-rail mass transit system and held discussions on taking part in the 2010 World Expo.

(China Daily 04/24/2006 page3)